Kankakee Times

Kankakee County - Criminal Justice Committee met June 14.

Here is the minutes as provided by the committee:

Members Present

Mr. Byrne, Mr. Hess, Mr. Washington, Mr. Vickery, Mr. Stauffenberg, Mr. McConnell, Mr.

Snipes, Mr. Payton, and Ms. Dunbar

Members Absent

Mr. Tholen, Mr. Skutt, Mr. Sirois, Ms. Evans, and Ms. Parker

In Attendance

 Board Members

Mr. Wheeler and Mr. Liehr

Department Heads

Jim Rowe, Sheriff Mike Downey, Bob Gessner, Gus Regas, Kevin Duval, Tom Latham,

Brian Gadbois, and Sandi Cianci

Media

Present

1. Call to Order

The meeting was called to order by the Committee Chairman, Mr. Byrne, at 7:30 a.m.

2. Public Comment

None

3. Approval of Minutes (Court Services): May 17, 2016

Approval of Minutes (Public Safety): July 21, 2016, August 18, 2016,

September 22, 2016, October 20, 2016, and November 17, 2016

Approval of Minutes (Criminal Justice): May 10, 2017

Mr. McConnell made a motion to combine and approve the above minutes, and Mr.

Vickery seconded it. Motion carried with a voice vote.

4. Judicial - Chief Judge Michael Kramer

Chief Judge Kramer was not present.

5. Sheriff/EMA Department - Sheriff Mike Downey

 Monthly Report

Sheriff Downey reviewed and discussed the report with the committee.

Sheriff Downey stated that he previously spoke about the need for a couple more vans. It

was asked at the Finance Committee meeting as to whether or not we could purchase

those vans out of our seizure money. The answer to that is yes. The answer as to

whether or not he’s going to do that is no. He doesn’t think that’s a responsibility of

seizure money to pay for things that they do daily.

Mr. Hess made a motion to approve and file the monthly report, and Mr. McConnell

seconded it. Motion carried with a voice vote.

 Process Serving to Police Agencies

Sheriff Downey stated that this issue has been addressed. He and Mr. Rowe sat down

and discussed a way to do this without having to serve a particular police officer

individually.

6. State’s Attorney’s Office - Jim Rowe

 Grand Jury Report

Mr. Stauffenberg made a motion to approve the report, and Mr. Hess seconded it.

Motion carried with a voice vote.

Mr. Rowe reviewed and discussed the report with the committee.

 Safe2Tell Mobile App

Mr. Rowe stated that we launched the mobile app on Monday, and he thanked everyone

who helped with that initiative and helping us get that out there in the community. We’re

setting it up with CrimeStoppers so they will be receiving the tips and can push them out to

the relevant agencies. We probably got about 16 of them just over the past two days.

Most of them are related to drug activity, so we’ve passed them along to KMEG.

 Collections

Mr. Rowe stated that we have one attorney and one paralegal working on collections. The

attorney is in the courtroom entering the orders, and the paralegal sits in the hallway

outside of courtroom 200 and gets agreements with the defendants who owe the money to

the County. He asked Ms. Cianci how many court dates they have a month.

Ms. Cianci stated that they’ve had four court dates altogether. The total collected so far is

$37,359.59.

Mr. Rowe also wanted to talk to the committee about bond court every Saturday at the jail

for people who have been arrested on Friday. If it’s a holiday, sometimes we’ll have it on

Sunday. In the past, it was just the State’s Attorney and the judge. The defendant wasn’t

present and had no counsel present for that bond hearing. Now it has been changed so

that there is a judge, a State’s Attorney, and the defendant is present. It makes them

uncomfortable in his office because you have a defendant there with no counsel, who is

sometimes being asked questions by the judge, and really should have counsel present.

Everyone has the right to have counsel present for any type of hearing. In the past, the

State’s Attorney used to pay one of their employees, he believes, $6,000 a year to attend

every single Saturday, or on Sunday when they have holiday court. It was something that

was talked about possibly doing through the Public Defender’s office. It’s needed and we

need to start it as soon as possible. This is probably something that we should try and get

on Finance on June 28th for consideration.

Mr. Wheeler stated that it’s on the agenda for June 28th. He mentioned to the Finance

Committee before that it was coming. He agrees that it’s something we have to do. It’s

part of all the other budget amendments and discussions that we’ll have.

7. Circuit Clerk’s Office - Sandi Cianci

 Monthly Report

Mr. Washington made a motion to approve the monthly report, and Ms. Dunbar

seconded it. Motion carried with a voice vote.

Ms. Cianci reviewed and discussed the reports with the committee.

 Computerization Update

Ms. Cianci discussed the status of the e-appeals and e-filing mandates with the

committee.

8. Public Defender’s Office - Gus Regas

 Monthly Report

Mr. Snipes made a motion to approve the report, and Mr. Payton seconded it.

Motion carried with a voice vote.

Mr. Regas reviewed and discussed the report with the committee.

9. Probation Department - Tom Latham

 Monthly Report

Ms. Dunbar made a motion to approve the report, and Mr. Washington seconded it.

Motion carried with a voice vote.

Mr. Latham reviewed and discussed the report with the committee.

Mr. Latham stated that Veteran’s Court graduation is on June 22nd

, at 11:30, and two

individuals are graduating.

10. Coroner’s Office - Bob Gessner

 Monthly Reports

 Monthly Receipts of Money

Mr. Vickery made a motion to combine and approve the reports, and Mr.

Stauffenberg seconded it. Motion carried with a voice vote.

Mr. Gessner reviewed and discussed the reports with the committee.

 Declare Three Portable Radios Surplus

 Digital Upgrade – In Car Radios

Mr. Gessner stated that he is asking to have three portable radios declared surplus. Two

years ago, using his Coroner’s fees, we bought brand new portable radios that have to be

digital, updated by 2020.

Mr. Gessner also stated that, when he got his new car, he put a new radio in it, and also,

the last car he had, he had a new radio in it. He had to buy four new radios by 2020 for

everyone, not just the Coroner’s office. They range anywhere from $1,500 to $4,000

each. We’ve been out looking and came across a good deal of $425 apiece, or about

$1,700, so he bought them. They’ve been installed in the vehicles already, are in good

shape, and it was a big savings.

Mr. Washington made a motion to declare three portable radios surplus, and Mr.

Hess seconded it. Motion carried with a voice vote.

 Six Month Overview

Mr. Gessner showed a PowerPoint presentation and reviewed and discussed it with the

committee.

11. Old Business/New Business

None

12. Adjournment

A motion to adjourn the meeting at 9:02 a.m. was made by Mr. Vickery, and

seconded by Mr. Washington. Motion carried.

http://www.co.kankakee.il.us/files/committees/61417.pdf