Kane Co. State's Atty. Barsanti worried about tough year ahead

When Kane County State's Attorney John Barsanti was told to trim his budget by 1.5 percent last year, he avoided layoffs by cutting back on consulting services, postage and even his office's bottled water consumption.

There wasn't a lot of "fat" to spare, but Barsanti said he got rid of what he could.

"I haven't had to cut any people, which was my goal. We're really trying to spend money wisely," he said.

But now Barsanti said he's worried about 2009 and what he might have to do if he's forced to make cuts again. If so, those cuts could mean a higher tab for taxpayers, a longer wait for defendants and longer jail stays for inmates.

Like many organizations in this new year, the state's attorney's office is bracing for the worst - a term that seems increasingly relative as the national recession widens.

"What I'm worried about in the future is if it's too deep," Barsanti said of potential cuts in the county's far-off June budget process. "I don't expect it to be any better."

Currently, there are 57 full-time attorneys in the state's attorney's office, where $38,500 is one of the lowest starting salaries in the region. In 2008, they prosecuted 3619 felony cases on a total budget of about $7 million.

In the last year, Barsanti's office cut out employee raises while at the same time generating more than $2 million in revenue to the county by taking control of forfeited bond money and going after delinquent fines, among other efforts.

Barsanti couldn't fully explain why felony cases tapered off by more than 200 from 2007 to 2008, but he said it didn't mean the county needs fewer lawyers. He said the caseload in Kane County is such that personnel cuts probably would result in cases moving more slowly through the system, extended stays for jail inmates and, ultimately, higher costs to taxpayers.

"We're not fat anywhere with lawyers," he said. "It's just not the case."

One added expense in 2008 was the unusually high cost of prosecuting some of the 22 cold case homicides indicted by a grand jury in 2007 after a massive, multiagency investigation.

Because a lot of those involved with the cold cases no longer live in the area, Barsanti said he went about $57,000 into the red on one budget for transporting, feeding and, in some cases, housing witnesses for various lengths.

The cold cases, however, may be one reason felonies declined.

The arrests likely crippled gang leadership in the Aurora area, Barsanti said, and potential street crime that subsequently was never carried out.

Another factor could have been the slowing housing economy. Barsanti said thefts were up but residential burglaries - often reported in areas where homes are under construction - was down.

"In our line of work, you can't really anticipate a lot of the things that will occur," he said.