Kane County reaps $388,000 from criminal court no-shows

Kane County is getting a $388,000 funding boost from an unlikely place - accused criminals who skipped court.

The state's attorney's office this week announced the forfeiture of decades worth of bond money that criminal defendants have posted only to miss court dates subsequent to release from the county jail.

The windfall is the result of an in-depth audit of all felony cases where bond was posted and an arrest warrant later was issued for the defendant.

The audit, conducted by the state's attorney's and circuit clerk's offices, took place after court officials learned last year that there were delinquent cases in which $108,000 in bond money had been posted.

The probe uncovered an additional $280,000 from cases dating as far back as 1988 and as recent as 2006.

The largest sum forfeited was $45,000 bond from a 1995 drug case; the smallest was $90 from a 2000 theft case, officials said.

And there could be more. Court officials are now turning attention to misdemeanor and traffic cases.

"In these times of decreasing resources, I believe I have a responsibility to exhaust every revenue stream," Kane County State's Attorney John Barsanti said in statement.