County officials oppose state bill
The Kane County Legislative Committee has the task of tracking the literally thousands of bills proposed by the state legislature every year that can impact county government. For well over a year now this committee, and the Kane County Board have been in opposition to a bill that seeks to raise the age of a juvenile criminal offender from 17 and under to 18 and under (SB 2275). We feel that this proposed change does not take into consideration the monetary burden it would place on the individual counties and detention centers throughout the state.
Philosophically, we do not disagree with the principal of 17 year olds being classified as juvenile offenders. They share the same high school classrooms with younger peers and they do not have the same privileges of those over 18, such as the right to vote. However, the legislature has not taken into account the different manner in which juvenile cases are processed through the local probation departments. Adding another age classification will significantly impact juvenile intake and caseload numbers, resulting in a need to fund more officers, office space, and equipment. In addition, the Kane County Juvenile Justice Center would lose an average of $400,000 a year in revenue due to the inability to house out-of-county juveniles (as we now do) since the facility will be brought to its capacity of 80 by Kane County 17 year olds. If this occurs, expansion of that facility just to meet in-county needs will cost significant dollars to the local tax payers.
To date we have not been made aware of any effort from the state to fund this mandated change to the Juvenile Justice System. Without the attached funding, this legislation could significantly impact the ability of the county to adequately meet the needs of the juvenile offender population in Kane County.
We urge concerned citizens to partner with us and contact your state legislators to express your concerns with SB 2275.
Bill Wyatt, Chairman
Kane County Legislative Committee
Gerald Jones
Michael Kenyon
Rudy Neuberger
Tom Van Cleave
Hollie Kissane
Sylvia Leonberger