By Vicky Wedig
SLN Staff
Walworth County has a new public defender to handle the cases of the county’s indigent who are charged with crimes.
Michelle Anderson replaced Travis Schwantes, who transferred to the Milwaukee branch of the State Public Defenders Office after managing the Elkhorn office for four years.
Anderson has served in the military and has 15 years of experience with the State Public Defenders Office having served in the Hudson and Racine branches before coming to Elkhorn, said Randy Kraft, communications director with the Public Defenders Office in Madison.
“With Michelle’s litigation skills as well as her leadership and management abilities, we are confident she will continue the high-level of compassionate and skilled service to clients that characterized Travis’ tenure in Walworth,” Kraft wrote in an email to Southern Lakes Newspapers.
Kraft said both Schwantes and Anderson are highly regarded and experienced defense attorneys.
Schwantes started with the State Public Defenders Office in 1988 and managed the Elkhorn office from January 2012 to July. He is now working with the trial office in Milwaukee where he lives but has returned to Walworth County as needed this month to complete some cases that were under way.
The State Public Defenders office provides indigent defense across all 72 counties with a total of 374 attorneys and attorney managers and support staff throughout those offices.
The Elkhorn office has an attorney manager (Anderson), four assistant state public defenders, an investigator and two support staff, Kraft said. The Elkhorn office oversees appointments for the indigent in Walworth County. The office uses private attorneys to handle overflow or conflicting cases, Kraft said.
