Kankakee Times

Kankakee County Criminal Justice Committee met Jan. 9.

Here is the minutes provided by the committee:

Members Present

Mr. Hess, Mr. Byrne, Ms. Dunbar, Mr. Snipes, Ms. Parker, Mr. Smith, Mr. Fairfield, Ms. Zuccollo and Mr. Carrico

Members Absent

Mr. Liehr, Mr. LaGesse, Mr. Ekhoff and Mr. Sirois

In Attendance

 Board Members

Mr. Wheeler

 Department Heads

Sheriff Mike Downey, Jim Rowe, Robert Gessner, Tom Latham, Wes Andrews, Anita Speckman and Ed Pentuic

Media

None

1. Call to Order

The meeting was called to order by the Committee Chairman, Mr. Hess at 7:32 a.m.

2. Public Comment

None

3. Approval of Minutes: September 11, 2019

Mr. Byrne made a motion to approve the minutes, and Ms. Parker seconded it.

Motion carried with a voice vote

4. Judicial – Chief Judge Michael Kramer

The Chief Judge was not present.

5. Circuit Clerk’s Office - Sandi Cianci

Ms. Cianci was unable to attend the meeting for this month.

 Monthly Report

 Computerization Update

Mr. Byrne made a motion to combine and approve the monthly report, and Mr. Smith seconded it.

Motion carried with a voice vote.

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

 Grand Jury Report

 Grand Jury Statistics Report, September 2019

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

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

Mr. Rowe commented on domestic violence awareness.

Motion carried with a voice vote.

7. Public Defender’s Office – Ed Pentuic

 Monthly Report

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

Mr. Pentuic advised that he has restructured the monthly report and is reorganizing the office, as well as the cases. The report will be more detailed and timely going forward.

Karin Farmer was recently promoted; Rebecca Souligne is also going full time on November 1st.

Mr. Smith asked how an attorney handles over 2,000 traffic cases.

Mr. Pentuic stated that court is fast paced and that number of cases can be moved.

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

8. Probation – Tom Latham

 Monthly Report

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

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

There were no questions or comments from the committee.

Mr. Latham commented on grants that were applied for and received and what the plans are for those funds.

Mr. Latham stated that the Drug Court Auction is on October 26th at the Knights of Columbus.

Motion carried with a voice vote.

9. Sheriff/EMA Department – Sheriff Mike Downey

 Monthly Report

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

Sheriff Downey reviewed and discussed the report with the committee.

Sheriff Downey stated that the traffic fatalities are doubled from what it was last year. It doesn’t matter that they are on state roads; we are identifying those areas and trying to slow people down.

Mr. Wheeler commented on the location population and how high that number is.

Sheriff Downey stated that they are constantly working with Mr. Rowe to see if there is something that can be done to reduce that number, but it is staying consistently high.

Motion carried with a voice vote.

 Declaring Vehicles as Surplus

Sheriff stated there are 2 vehicles they are declaring surplus. The committee reviewed the information that was in their packets. The 2 vehicles are unfixable.

Ms. Parker made a motion to approve, and Mr. Snipes seconded it. Motion carried with a voice vote.

 Vehicle Purchase Update

Sheriff Downey stated that there was an issue with the vehicle purchased that was previously approved. The Tahoe purchase went through just fine, but the Ram trucks are not available for purchase anymore. They will not be ready until 2020. Sheriff stated that they could not guarantee the same pricing.

After doing research, the Ford Explorer would be the best option. Reducing the number of vehicles from 7 to 6, the total cost would increase by about $19,000.

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

Mr. Snipes wanted to add that some of the increase of location population could be due to the lack of available shelters.

Sheriff Downey advised that there are available shelters that they work very closely with.

Sheriff Downey stated that he was called out of the County Board meeting due to a congressman and several State Representatives demanding a tour of the facility. This visit was purposely scheduled to be a surprise, and could be described as a circus. ICE rules require congressional visits to give 48 hours’ notice, but I made the decision to give them a tour. There is nothing to hide here. They had the media with them and were here to instigate a denial to the tour. We spent four hours giving them a tour of the facility and even after going above and beyond, the media still reported things incorrectly.

Whether you have a scheduled visit or a surprise visit, such as what happened yesterday, our facility remains the same condition every day.

Mr. Snipes commented on the lack of professional courtesy from the surprise visit.

10. Coroner’s Office – Bob Gessner

 Monthly Reports

 Monthly Receipts of Money

Mr. Byrne 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 number of overdoses and if there wasn’t Narcan available, the number of autopsies would triple.

Mr. Snipes complimented Mr. Gessner on the work that he has done to make Narcan accessible to the community and the lives that it saves.

There were no questions or comments from the committee.

Motion carried with a Voice Vote.

11. Old Business/New Business

Mr. Wheeler announced the Resignation of Shane Ritter from the Kankakee County Board District #9 effective as of October 9th, 2019. There is an opening available to replace him.

Notifications will be sent out to the proper people today.

Mr. Hess stated Happy Birthday to the Deputy Coroner as his birthday is tomorrow.

12. Adjournment

Mr. Zuccollo made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 8:13 a.m., and Ms. Dunbar seconded it. Motion carried with a voice vote.

http://www.co.kankakee.il.us/files/committees/criminal_justice_10919.pdf