County Courtroom

Maybe instead of adding a waterpark to the Milwaukee Zoo, Milwaukee County executive Scott Walker (R) can focus on rebuilding our crumbling court system.

The state's busiest county courthouse runs much as it did decades ago. Case files exist entirely on paper and are often either locked in shut-down courtrooms or lost somewhere in transit. Computers are on desktops, mainly through state funding, but they seem to have little direct effect on courtroom proceedings.

"We are so in the dark ages," Milwaukee County Chief Judge Kitty Brennan said, shaking her head. "We have broken copiers we can't fix. We're down to things like that."

Budget woes and a long history of neglecting capital expenditures on technology - in a court complex so lacking basic repairs that some elevators remain out of commission for months - have resulted in a system that is a couple decades out of time.

"For a county this size, in all honesty, how do you expect technology when you can't even - honestly - keep the courtroom clean?" said veteran defense attorney Marty Kohler in a November interview. "It's a joke."