Kankakee Times

Kankakee County Criminal Justice Committee met June 12.

Here is the minutes provided by the committee:

Members Present

Mr. Hess, Mr. Liehr, Mr. Olthoff, Mr. Byrne, Mr. Snipes, Mr. Ekhoff, , Ms. Dunbar, Mr. Carrico, Mr. LaGesse, Mr. Fairfield and Ms. Zuccollo

Members Absent

Ms. Parker, Mr. Smith and Mr. Ritter

In Attendance

 Board Members

Mr. Wheeler and Mr. Sirois

 Department Heads

Sheriff Mike Downey, Chief Ken McCabe, Bob Gessner, Tom Latham, Sandi Cianci, Wes Andrews, Anita Speckman, Tammy Peterson, and Kevin Duval

Media

None

1. Call to Order

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

2. Public Comment

None

3. Approval of Minutes: May 15, 2019

Mr. Olthoff made a motion to approve the minutes, and Ms. Zuccollo seconded it.

Motion carried with a voice vote

4. Kankakee County ETSB/KanComm Overview – Tammy Peterson

Topic was moved to the July Criminal Justice meeting.

5. Judicial – Chief Judge Michael Kramer

 Plans for Filling the Public Defender Vacancy

Judge Kramer advised the committee that current Chief Public Defender, Gus Regas will be retiring effective September 1st, 2019. Due to the increase in cases, the position will be filling the vacancy with a Full Time Public Defender. The State of Illinois will cover approximately two thirds of the salary for the new position.

Judge Kramer advised the committee that he will be posting the position this week.

Mr. Wheeler stated that he will be recommending this position to both the Criminal Justice Committee, as well as the Finance Committee.

Mr. Sirois asked if there was a timeline to make for a seamless transition.

Mr. Byrne made the motion to move to the Finance Committee, and Ms. Zuccollo seconded it. Motion carried with a voice vote.

6. Circuit Clerk’s Office - Sandi Cianci

 Monthly Report

 Computerization Update

Mr. LaGesse made a motion to combine and approve the monthly report, and Mr. Ekhoff seconded it.

Ms. Cianci reviewed and discussed the reports with the committee. There were no questions from the committee.

Motion carried with a voice vote.

7. State’s Attorney’s Office – Jim Rowe

 Grand Jury Report

 Grand Jury Statistics Report, May 2019

Mr. Byrne made a motion to combine and approve the report and Mr. Liehr seconded it.

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

Motion carried with a voice vote.

8. Public Defender’s Office – Gus Regas

 Monthly Report

Mr. LaGesse made a motion to approve the report and Mr. Olthoff seconded it. Motion carried with a voice vote.

Mr. Regas was not present.

9. Probation – Tom Latham  Monthly Report

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

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

There were no questions or comments from the committee.

Motion carried with a voice vote.

Mr. Latham advised the committee that there was an increase in appropriations for Probation salaries. The additional revenue will assist in offsetting some of the reductions in revenue that the County budget will have going forward.

Mr. Wheeler thanked Mr. Latham for assisting the County financially and how appreciative he is for his efforts.

10. Sheriff/EMA Department – Sheriff Mike Downey

 Monthly Report

Mr. LaGesse made a motion to approve the monthly report, and Mr. Fairfield seconded it.

Sheriff Downey reviewed and discussed the report with the committee.

Sheriff Downey stated that the corrections department goes through more inspections than any department and thanked them for their commitment.

Motion carried with a voice vote.

Mr. Hess asked if he had any comments regarding the public comments that were made at the County Board Meeting.

Sheriff Downey reviewed the comments that were made at the meeting.

Sheriff Downey stated that he is impressed with the person that reviews the medical billing and the savings have added up to over $130,000.

Sheriff Downey updated the committee on the Emergency Declaration that was made by Chairman Wheeler and Chad Gessner. It has moved past the State and to the Federal level. He thanked them for their work and how nothing like that has ever been done before.

11. Coroner’s Office – Bob Gessner  Monthly Reports

 Monthly Receipts of Money

Mr. Ekhoff made a motion to combine and approve the monthly reports and monthly receipts, and Ms. Dunbar seconded it.

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

Mr. Gessner commented on the increase in overdoses, which is expected in the summer months.

There were no questions from the committee.

Motion carried with a voice vote.

Mr. Gessner advised that committee that he had recently visited students at a grade school. He stated that it was shocking that 5th, 6th, and 7th graders were aware of the names of drugs such as heroin, cocaine, molly, and ecstasy. It was shocking and eye opening, Mr. Gessner stated that he would like to see drug programs in the younger aged schools.

12. Old Business/New Business

None

13. Adjournment

Mr. LaGesse made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 8:15 a.m., and Ms. Dunbar seconded it. Motion carried with a voice vote.

http://www.co.kankakee.il.us/files/committees/criminal_justice_61219.pdf