Why Kane County wants to keep juveniles in jail
Kane County officials hope seven deadline extensions on a vote for a proposed law they oppose will signify a death knell for the plan.
State legislators now have until Nov. 2 to vote on a proposal that would classify 17-year-old offenders as juveniles -- instead of adults, as they are currently labeled -- in most crimes.
The deadline extensions came as lawmakers continue their record-setting overtime session, which has been going on in Springfield for five months.
Raising the so-called age of criminal responsibility to 18 means a majority of Kane County's 17-year-old offenders would be sent to the county's Juvenile Justice Center instead of the jail. The county would lose money because there would be no more room in the juvenile facility to house offenders from other counties, which pay an estimated $370,000 annually to send inmates there.
"We were here in August and it was delayed until September. We were here in September and it was delayed until October. Now it's delayed until Nov. 2," Kane County Board member Bill Wyatt told members of the board's legislative committee Wednesday. "Maybe it's good that it's being delayed. We'll have to wait and see."
Earlier this year the board approved a resolution asking local state lawmakers to reject the proposal, which would go into effect July 1 for misdemeanor convictions and 2009 for felony convictions. McHenry, Will and Winnebago counties also passed resolutions of opposition.
Kane's detention center houses an average of 62 juvenile inmates every day.