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There are as many as 20,000 more victims and defendants waiting for a resolution of their criminal cases in Wisconsin than there were before the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to recent data published by the Wisconsin Court System, it now takes more than eight months for the average felony case to be resolved. That is two months longer than it took to resolve similar cases in 2019 and more than three months longer than in 2010. Many misdemeanor and criminal traffic cases are taking longer to resolve than the average felony case did pre-pandemic.
Many county jails are still over capacity because of the number of people awaiting trial. Judges, prosecutors and defense attorneys have raised alarms that the backlog will affect the state’s justice system for years to come.
The pandemic prompted court systems in states across the country to nearly halt their legal proceedings. Many courts held remote hearings for the first time.
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