New Marathon County district attorney Kyle Mayo outlines office priorities, joins statewide justice coalition budget push

Kyle Mayo, the newly elected Marathon County district attorney, introduced himself to the county Public Safety Committee on Feb. 11 and outlined items the State of Wisconsin Justice Coalition has included in its 2025–27 budget proposal.

Mayo said he has worked in the Marathon County district attorney’s office since late 2012 and described a range of cases he has handled. He highlighted several budget priorities the justice coalition—comprising the Department of Justice, the Wisconsin District Attorney’s Association, the State Public Defender’s Office, the Association of State Prosecutors and the director of state courts—has advanced to the state legislature.

Key requests Mayo described include converting ARPA-funded limited-term attorneys to permanent full‑time positions (he said there are about 28 such positions statewide), increasing the state reimbursement rate for victim-witness positions to 60% (present county reimbursement has ranged from 40% to 56% in recent years), requesting 19 additional crime lab positions to reduce case delays tied to analyst availability, and seeking additional information-technology resources and funding because IT budgets have not materially increased since FY2011, Mayo said.

County staff said the county could consider a resolution supporting some statewide budget priorities but recommended digesting the coalition’s proposals alongside the Wisconsin Counties Association’s priorities and suggested the DA provide talking points for county supervisors to use with state legislators. Mayo agreed to provide talking points to the chair and County Administrator Leonard for distribution to supervisors.

No formal committee vote was taken on the state budget items during the meeting; the presentation was for discussion and potential future action.