WAUSAU - On a Friday afternoon, when most activity in the Marathon County Courthouse had slowed, Court Commissioner Douglas Bauman sat on a judge's bench and looked at a television monitor.

The courtroom was empty except for a clerk and a USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin reporter. The hallways outside the doors were nearly vacant, as other courthouse staff prepared to head home for the weekend.

The monitor showed a stark room with the camera centered on a lone table and chair. A metal door in the wall behind the table had a window. The setup, similar to those found in courtrooms across the state, allows Marathon County inmates to make some court appearances by video from jail as a public safety measure.

WHO'S IN JAIL: A one-day snapshot

The defendants appearing before Bauman by video in the Sara Quirt-Sann Memorial Courtroom weren't there to learn if they could post bail, to hear the charges against them, to enter a plea, or to face a sentencing. The group of men who filed into the tight jail room one at a time, to sit in the chair behind the table and get a few moments of Bauman's time, were there to find out when they'd ever get a real day in court.

All of the men brought before Bauman qualified for a public defender, but they were without an attorney. The defendants, all held on bail they couldn't pay, were feeling the effects of a shortage of attorneys who will take cases for the state public defender's office.

Travis Bell talks to Marathon County Court Commissioner Douglas Bauman during a hearing in Marathon County Circuit Court. Txer Zhon Kha/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

Some defendants wait for weeks, even months, to get assigned an attorney, Bauman said. In the meantime, they sit in jail — not knowing when they'll be released or when their cases will move forward.

It's known as dead time, said Suzanne O'Neill, regional attorney manager for the state public defender's offices in Wausau and Stevens Point. The defendants are held in jail and nothing productive happens.

"I don't know that we're the worst, but I would say that Marathon County is one of the most severely hit by this state private bar shortage," O'Neill said.

Jeffrey Cano, regional manager for the state's offices in Green Bay and Appleton. Every day, when we go to lockups, there's a pile of cases that have not gone to our office. Quote icon

The farther defendants get away from Dane and Milwaukee counties, the more difficult it is to find lawyers willing to take public defender cases, said Randy Kraft, communications director with the Wisconsin Public Defenders Office. The more serious the felony, the more difficult it is to get someone willing to take the case.

The shortage of attorneys is affecting court calendars, county budgets and crime victims who have to wait longer for justice.

Public defenders are seeing long wait times in the northeastern part of the state, said Jeffrey Cano, regional manager for the state's offices in Green Bay and Appleton.

"Every day, when we go to lockups, there's a pile of cases that have not gone to our office," Cano said.

In Marinette and Shawano counties, especially, very few private attorneys take public defender cases to help with the load, he said.

The problem is exacerbated by inmates who have been arrested multiple times. The state cannot represent two defendants charged in the same incident because it would be a conflict of interest.

A system in crisis

The current rate paid to attorneys taking on cases for the state is the lowest in the country at $40 an hour. The state Legislature and Gov. Tony Evers agreed to raise it to $70 an hour starting in January but have not yet approved money to add to the 375 state attorneys who handle trial and appeals work across Wisconsin.

For now, the state finds itself begging lawyers to defend people who are poor.

Peter Rotter, a criminal defense attorney in Wausau. It's about the cost of doing business. There aren't a lot of attorneys willing to take public defender cases. Quote icon

"It's about the cost of doing business," said Peter Rotter, a criminal defense attorney in Wausau. "There aren't a lot of attorneys willing to take public defender cases."

Rotter calls the situation a crisis.

It's a crisis that has been long in the making: The $40 hourly rate hadn't been changed since 1995, and that was the year the state cut it from $50, said David Carroll, executive director of the Sixth Amendment Center.

The Sixth Amendment Center, named for the U.S. Constitution's guarantee of defendants' rights, published a report that concluded the hourly cost of overhead for attorneys is $41.79 an hour. Private attorneys lose money on public cases.

Many clients "plead out" after sitting in jail for weeks waiting for an attorney, O'Neill said. Their freedom is more important to them than the felony record they will have by pleading guilty, she said.

The frustration among the men who sit in the Marathon County Jail waiting for an attorney is apparent in their meeting with Bauman. Defendants who qualify for a public defender but have none are scheduled for hearings every other week to review their cases.

During the brief hearings, if the defendant still doesn't have an attorney, Bauman decides that's a good reason to postpone the next court appearance and schedules another review hearing in two weeks.

'I have a right to be heard'

Travis Bell, 44, of Wausau, has been sitting in jail on $10,000 bail since March 3 for three domestic abuse charges.

Bell attended six review hearings with Bauman before getting an attorney in May, two months after his arrest. During a hearing April 19, he repeatedly questioned whether the courts were violating his right to "due process." The court commissioner patiently explained that Bell could have a good argument for that. He said Bell's best option was to write a letter to the judge overseeing his case.

Bell demanded a speedy trial — "I have a right to be heard," he said — and Bauman explained that his attorney could make that request after the preliminary hearing. In the meantime, the commissioner scheduled another review in two weeks.

In a recent interview with USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin, Bell said he waited 58 days to get his attorney. He went in front of a judge with his newly appointed attorney May 1, and the judge lowered Bell's bail from $10,000 cash to a $9,000 signature bond and $1,000 cash.

On the day Bell was interviewed, he had been in jail for 90 days without being convicted. Although he can't pay the $1,000, he believes his case would have been concluded by June if he had an attorney earlier.

"I'd have been home for Mother's Day," Bell said.

Bell, who was charged with battery, disorderly conduct and criminal damage to property, all as a domestic abuse incident, is scheduled for a plea hearing Oct. 29.

On that particular Friday of review hearings in April, Bauman was repeatedly asked about rights violations. He explained to defendants that he wasn't authorized to change bail amounts and that prosecutors couldn't attend the hearing because it would be unethical, as no defense attorney was present.

Coping with 'dead time'

Inmates face long wait for defense attorney The Public Defenders Office takes as many cases as it can, but, many times, the biggest problems come with inmates who have been arrested multiple times. T'xer Zhon Kha, Wausau Daily Herald

Deon Smith, 37, of Wausau, was arrested March 12. On May 28, he still was waiting for an attorney, after one who had been appointed earlier withdrew from the case.

"We're in here fighting for our freedom," Smith said. "To be stuck without an attorney, you don't know what's going on with you."

Deon Smith, 37, of Wausau. We're in here fighting for our freedom. To be stuck without an attorney, you don't know what's going on with you. Quote icon

Smith said he can't post his $5,000 bail, which a judge ordered because he was charged with using a computer to facilitate a child sex crime, felony bail jumping and misdemeanor bail jumping.

He wrote a letter asking the judge to appoint an attorney. The judge responded by saying officials would do what they can when they can, Smith said.

"It's almost like you're kidnapped in a way," he said.

Marathon County Jail Administrator Sandra La Du-Ives said she checks regularly to see who has been locked up for 200 days or more without a conviction, and she looks into the progress of their cases.

Meanwhile, she said, the county tries to keep the defendants productive by allowing them to participate in programs such as a blueprint-reading class and a welding class. Kiosks in the cell blocks allow inmates to access the Job Center and the technical college and other helpful sites online.

Marathon County Jail Administrator Sandra La Du-Ives Alison Dirr/Daily Herald Media

On the day La Du-Ives was interviewed for this story, nearly half of the Marathon County Jail's 354 inmates were awaiting trial, she said. Those who also are still waiting for an attorney are frustrated and afraid, she said, because they don't know how long they'll be sitting in jail, or what's happening with their loved ones.

The state public defender's office is optimistic that the pay increase for private attorneys will encourage more to take these cases, said Adam Plotkin, the department's legislative liaison.

"That said, there are areas of the state, particularly rural and northern, for which a rate increase is only part of the answer," he said.

Those are the places where there's a shortage of attorneys in general.

For now, it's wait and see.

"We won't be able to fully appreciate the effect of the increase until after (it takes effect) Jan. 1," Plotkin said.

Support local journalism Click to subscribe Get full access to articles, videos and more. Get news and insights sent to your inbox. Sign up for email newsletters. Sign up