Wisconsin prosecutors have rejected a state proposal that they take six unpaid days by July 2, as well as temporary pay cuts, setting up the likelihood that dozens of them will be laid off while all of those remaining become part-time workers.

The multiday vote by members of the Association of State Prosecutors ended Tuesday night and was "not particularly close," said the group's president, Milwaukee County Assistant District Attorney David Feiss.

He said turnout among the bargaining unit's approximately 350 members was greater than 90%.

Their bosses, the state's elected district attorneys, have said they don't believe the Department of Administration or Office of State Employee Relations have the authority to impose the layoffs and reductions, and several have upheld grievances filed by assistant prosecutors within their own offices.

The Wisconsin Professional Police Association also slammed the initial administration proposal to lay off prosecutors if they didn't agree to take additional furlough days to make up a shortage in the remaining budget.

Feiss said the board of the prosecutors association plans to meet within the next day or two to consider all its legal options and determine its next step.

Carla Vigue, a spokeswoman for the Department of Administration, issued a statement Wednesday that said:

"We would like to solve this situation with furloughs, which do not impact employee benefits as a layoff would, and have worked with the Association of State Prosecutors to reach a solution.

"However, we face a situation where we had to issue a layoff notice to the all ADAs statewide in order to ensure that we have achieved the $11.8 million in savings by June 30, 2011."

According to the April 6 layoff notices, if the prosecutors rejected a "memo of understanding" about the furlough days, the state would impose across-the-board 20% reductions in everyone's status, meaning full-time prosecutors would become 80% full-time equivalency, and half-time prosecutors 40%. Not only pay, but also all benefits such as accrual of vacation and pension contributions, would be reduced proportionately.

And for those at 40%, they would have to start paying half their health insurance premium, which would amount to nearly their entire reduced pay.

An amended memo offered more flexibility in scheduling the furlough days, and a limited-time cut in pay only, but was still rejected by prosecutors.

Now, unless a new compromise or solution is reached by Saturday, about 55 prosecutors with less than a year on the job would be fired, and all others who are not elected officials or their deputies would have their pay and benefits reduced by 2%.

In 2003, prosecutors took furlough days when other state employees did not. In their next contract, they agreed to a maximum of 10 furlough days in 2010 and 2011.

But last month, the state issued layoff notices. Officials warned the state might be on the hook for more than $11 million in paybacks to other state employees who took 16 furlough days over the past two fiscal years if prosecutors refused to take the extra six days. Some other state employees' bargaining units had agreed to accept those unpaid days off only with provisions that if another bargaining unit took fewer furlough days, that number would apply to the rest.

Sheboygan County District Attorney Joe DeCecco said he and the county's five circuit judges had met Tuesday and decided his six assistants would not work on six of the seven Fridays beginning May 13 to account for the 20% reductions.

"As only myself and my deputy DA will be present on those Fridays and as we obviously cannot cover all the courts and the Court Commissioner's hearing room, most Friday cases will be adjourned by the respective courts, impacting already full court schedules," DeCecco said.

Douglas County District Attorney Daniel Blank said he would lose one of two full-time assistants and his only half-time assistant. He said he felt like prosecutors, already understaffed by about 100 positions according to a 2008 Legislative Audit Bureau analysis, are being kicked while they're down, and that ultimately it will be crime victims who suffer.

"All this talk of right-sizing and doing more with less" is a smoke screen, he said. "We will now be doing less with less."

The Marinette County District Attorney, Allen Brey, has only one full-time and one part-time assistant. He responded to Wednesday's news by writing to Department of Administration Secretary Mike Huebsch.

"Cuts have consequences," Brey wrote. "I seek your advice on what crimes to not prosecute. I have consulted with my Sheriff and Chiefs of Police and they do not believe any prosecutions should be eliminated.

"The statutory scheme requires me to prosecute juvenile cases, and of course felonies come first. The only classes of cases available to cut and meet our projected production are criminal traffic (drunken driving without injury and operating after revocation) and misdemeanors (woman beaters, drug users, common thieves, destroyers of property, etc.). Although certainly both classes of cases have been worthy of prosecution until now, your decision requires a choice to not prosecute one group or the other."

Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm did not return a call seeking comment on how the layoffs would affect his office, the largest in the state.