MADISON — The Wisconsin Department of Justice will be able to hire two new prosecutors to handle gun cases in Milwaukee.
The Legislature's budget-writing Joint Finance Committee voted unanimously Wednesday, November 4th to approve spending $366,000 to pay for the new hires over the next 20 months.
Democratic lawmakers who voted for the funding said it was better than nothing, but wouldn't address the larger problems affecting violence in the state's largest city.
The DOJ, Department of Corrections and Milwaukee officials struck an agreement in July to improve investigations and prosecution of gun-related crimes. Part of the agreement calls for DOJ to house two assistant attorney generals in the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office to help with gun cases.
On Wednesday, the co-chairs of the Joint Finance Committee, Senator Alberta Darling (R-River Hills) and Representative John Nygren (R-Marinette), issued the following statement regarding providing more resources to combat gun violence in Milwaukee: