The Chief Clerk makes the following entries under the above date:
__________________
Relating to plumbing plans and adopted standards.
Submitted by Department of Industry, Labor and Human Relations.
Report received from Agency, October 10, 1996.
To committee on Labor and Employment
.
Referred on October 16, 1996.
Relating to fee for title and registration processing contractors.
Submitted by Department of Transportation.
Report received from Agency, October 15, 1996.
To committee on Highways and Transportation
.
Referred on October 16, 1996.
Relating to turtle harvest.
Submitted by Department of Natural Resources.
Report received from Agency, October 8, 1996.
To committee on Natural Resources
.
Referred on October 11, 1996.
Relating to soil erosion at one- and two-family dwelling construction sites.
Submitted by Department of Industry, Labor and Human Relations.
Report received from Agency, October 10, 1996.
To committee on Housing.
Referred on October 16, 1996.
Relating to the definition of handicapping conditions, including significant development delay.
Submitted by Department of Public Instruction.
Report received from Agency, October 8, 1996.
To committee on Education.
Referred on October 11, 1996.
Relating to operation of public swimming pools.
Submitted by Department of Health and Family Services.
Report received from Agency, October 14, 1996.
To committee on Health.
Referred on October 16, 1996.
Relating to the method of resolving disputes concerning children with exceptional educational needs between school boards and the parents of those children.
Submitted by Department of Public Instruction.
Report received from Agency, October 8, 1996.
To committee on Education.
Referred on October 11, 1996.
Relating to transcripts of undergraduate training, passing scores on examinations and abandonment of applications.
Submitted by Department of Regulation and Licensing.
Report received from Agency, October 14, 1996.
To committee on Health.
Referred on October 16, 1996.
Relating to securities registration exemptions, securities registration procedures, substantive registration standards and disclosure requirements, securities broker-dealer, securities agent and securities investment adviser licensing requirements and procedures, franchise definitions, franchise registration exemptions, franchise registration procedures, substantive registration and disclosure requirements, franchise registration or exemption revocations and fraudulent practices, franchise fee-related provisions and franchise forms.
Submitted by Department of Financial Institutions.
Report received from Agency, October 8, 1996.
To committee on Insurance, Securities and Corporate Policy.
Referred on October 11, 1996.
__________________
Referral of Agency Reports
TO: Charles R. Sanders
Assembly Chief Clerk
FROM: J. Denis Moran
Director of State Courts
DATE: October 1, 1996
A1213
Pursuant to s.
758.19(5)(i), Wis. Stats., the information reported to the Director of State Courts under s.
758.19(5)(e), Wis. Stats., by Wisconsin's counties has been compiled and is herein submitted. Under s.
758.19(5)(e), Wis. Stats., each county is required to submit an annual report to the Director of State Courts which provides information on the actual amount expended in the previous calendar year for court costs relating to the circuit court support and the guardian ad litem payment programs.
Under the circuit court support payment program, counties received $7,661,400 during 1995 to be used to offset the following court costs incurred during the calendar year:
•
Juror fees under s.
59.77(8), Wis. Stats.;
•
Fees for expert witnesses called by the guardian ad litem under s.
767.045(6), Wis. Stats., if either or both parties are unable to pay those fees;
•
Witness fees set under s.
814.68(1)(b)1 and
(c), Wis. Stats., for witnesses called by the court on its own motion or called by, or subpoenaed at the request of, a district attorney, the state public defender or private attorney appointed under s.
977.08, Wis. Stats.;
•
Fees for expert witnesses appointed under s.
907.06, Wis. Stats., by the court on its own motion or by the court at the request of the district attorney, the state public defender, or a private attorney appointed under s.
977.08, Wis. Stats., or by the court upon agreement of the district attorney, the state public defender or a private attorney appointed under s.
977.08, Wis. Stats.;
•
Fees for witnesses or expert witnesses subpoenaed by the court at the request of the district attorney, coroner, or medical examiner under s.
979.06(1) and
(2), Wis. Stats.;
•
Salaries and fringe benefits for judicial assistants for circuit court judges;
•
Any other court costs, except costs related to courtroom security, including security personnel, and costs related to rent, utilities, maintenance, rehabilitation, and construction of court facilities.
The guardian ad litem payment program allows counties to use payments to defray the costs of guardian ad litem compensation incurred under chs.
48,
55,
767, and
880. The Director of State Courts was appropriated $4,738,500 for state fiscal year 1995-96 to make these payments to counties.
The annual report from counties under this statute was due July 1, 1996 for calendar year 1995. As of October 1, 1996, all counties have submitted the annual report to the Director of State Courts. A county which does not meet the annual reporting requirement under s.
758.19(5)(e), Wis. Stats., is not eligible to receive its circuit court support payment for one year after the July 1st due date or until the annual report is submitted, whichever is earlier.
Circuit Court Support Payment Program. Attachment A is a compilation of the information provided by counties for calendar year 1995 on the actual costs incurred during the year in the allowable categories. Based on these annual reports, counties reported incurring $81,335,909 in these court costs throughout the calendar year. Specifically:
•
salaries and fringe benefits for judicial assistants totaled $6,514,329;
•
juror fees totaled $4,383,746;
•
witness and expert witness fees totaled $1,078,654; and
•
other court costs except court room security, rent, utilities, maintenance, rehabilitation, and construction of court facilities totaled $69,359,180.
The $6.5 million reported in salaries and fringe benefits for judicial assistants actually represent the cost of providing clerical assistance to circuit court judges. Many counties continue not to provide their circuit court judges with a position exclusively identified as a judicial assistant. As a result, these counties reported a portion of the salaries and fringe benefits of the county personnel who may perform one or more of the duties described in the judicial assistant job description developed by the Director of State Courts as required by s.
758.19(h), Wis. Stats. Consequently, the reported salaries and fringe benefits of judicial assistants may be a percentage of the salaries and fringe benefits for register in probate staff or clerk of circuit court staff who also provide clerical assistance to the judge.
Counties reported expending almost $4.4 million in juror fees during the past calendar year. Of this $4.4 million, 70 percent or $3.1 million relates to the daily fee paid to jurors for their attendance while the remaining fees relate to mileage and meal expenses paid for jurors. It also should be pointed out that the daily fees and mileage rates paid to jurors vary widely from county to county. According to s.
756.25(1), Wis. Stats., jurors are not to receive less than $16 for each day's actual attendance at circuit court and an amount equal to the mileage rate set under s.
20.916(8), Wis. Stats., which was 26 cents per mile in 1995. The data collected on the calendar year 1995 annual reports show the juror daily rate paid by counties to range from $16 to $45. The mileage rate counties used to reimburse jurors ranged from 20 cents to 30 cents per mile. Twelve counties reported paying less than the statutory required mileage rate.
For calendar year 1995 counties reported expending over $1 million for witness and expert witness fees. Not all counties were able to provide the same level of detail on the annual report for these fees. However, from the information available, 55 percent of the witness and expert witness fees paid during calendar year 1995 relate to witnesses and expert witnesses called or subpoenaed by the district attorney while four percent of the fees were paid to witnesses and expert witnesses of the state public defender.
A1214
Finally, counties reported incurring over $69 million in other eligible court costs under the circuit court support payment program. The comparability among counties of the information reported in this category is questionable. When reviewing the detail counties provided to support the amount reported as "other" court costs, it appears that they do not categorize them consistently. For example, some counties reported the total costs of the circuit court, clerk of court, register in probate, and the court commissioner(s) while other counties included costs of other areas as part of the county's court budget (i.e. costs associated with corporation counsel, family mediation/counseling, child support, etc.). Furthermore, counties do not typically include the same type of expenditures in court budgets which makes it difficult to compare court costs among counties. As an example, one county may have reported the cost of providing indigent counsel while another county may not because it was included in another county department's budget.
Guardian Ad Litem Payment Program. Counties were also required to report the costs of those guardian ad litem fees which are listed under s.
758.19(6), Wis. Stats. Attachment B provides the information counties were able to report for calendar year 1995. Of the $8,068,190 counties reported guardian ad litem services paid during 1995:
•
$3,061,616 were for guardian ad litem services provided under Chapter
48 of the Wisconsin Statutes;
•
$1,472,183 were for guardian ad litem services provided under Chapters
55 and
880 of the Wisconsin Statutes; and
•
$2,191,180 were for guardian ad litem services provided under Chapter
767 of the Wisconsin Statutes.
The remaining $1,343,211 was reported as "other guardian ad litem services" mainly because counties could not identify easily the proper category where these costs belonged. Moreover, counties also reported that they recouped at least $1,396,040 in guardian ad litem fees from those parties which were provided the services.
Referred to committee on Criminal Justice and Corrections.
