Officials: Kane County less safe without GPS monitoring

Kane County law enforcement officials said Thursday eliminating a 24-hour monitoring program for potentially dangerous offenders has reduced public safety and increased costs throughout the local justice system, and they urged forming a task force to consider ways to restore it.

The county board eliminated funding for the electronic monitoring system to help resolve a budget deficit heading into 2018. Unspent money from the 2017 budget and the discovery of $2.4 million in surplus reserves in the treasurer's office spurred thoughts of restoring GPS monitoring earlier this month.

But Chief Judge Susan Clancy Boles said reinstating the program without reliable funding would be just as disruptive as not having monitoring at all. Using surplus funds or surprise reserves is not stable, she said.

"We would be in this exact same position eight months or a year from now," Boles said. "The program was working wonderfully, but it was expensive. It will continue to be expensive. And because it's not mandated it's going to constantly be on the chopping block. This starting and stopping, the judicial system cannot absorb this. It's not fair to the victims."

State's Attorney Joe McMahon said cutting the program "gutted" his office's ability to provide victims of assault and domestic violence with advance warning of a possible second incident while waiting for their attackers to stand trial.

"The loss of this program directly impacts the safety of victims in this county who are already at the greatest risk," McMahon said. "Domestic violence across this county leads to more deaths, more physical attacks than any other type of crime. This is a program we need. It needs to be funded. It has been efficient and effective for a long time in this county."

Sheriff Don Kramer spoke to the financial efficiency of GPS monitoring. He said predictions that cutting the monitoring would lead to more inmates at the jail have proved true.

Last weekend the jail had more than 600 inmates; the jail's capacity is 576. That means shipping out inmates to other counties at an added cost to local taxpayers. Kramer highlighted a $1,860 monthly cost to host one inmate in another county's jail.

"That is very concerning," Kramer said. "Losing electronic monitoring has definitely increased the number of people that are incarcerated. That's going to impact our budget and the way we do business."

Boles suggested forming a task force to find a cheaper way to run the program and attach dedicated dollars to it. County board member Phil Lewis suggested pairing with neighboring counties to share costs. Boles said that's an idea worth investigating. Kramer and Boles agreed to co-chair the task force.

John Martin, who oversees the county board committee the judicial system reports to, said he expects the county board to support the task force's work.

"There is nobody on this board who is not supportive of a GPS system," Martin said. "We just have to find one that is the best for our economic options."