State's attorney not planning major changes

Joe McMahon took the oath for Kane County State's Attorney a week ago, but he is already more than familiar with his office.

McMahon headed the office's criminal division 10 years ago and has spent 10 hours over several days talking about major cases and staff with outgoing state's attorney John Barsanti, who became a judge.

McMahon still plans to meet one-on-one with each of the 60 lawyers in his office a process that will take him into mid-January.

Tuesday, McMahon outlined his approach for the next two years, saying he still plans to be active in the courtroom, wants to hire and retain talented and passionate lawyers, and doesn't have any major changes planned for some programs initiated by Barsanti.

But overall, McMahon said the goal isn't lengthy prison sentences for every defendant and wants to expand the “Second Chance” program, in which defendants can get nonviolent, first-time felonies expunged from their records.

“It's not about sending people to prison,” he said. “It's about educating people, getting them access to resources so they can make better decisions in the future.”

McMahon said there will be certain cases that he could try himself or work with assistant state's attorneys to prosecute.

“There's going to be certain cases that will cry out for a loud, aggressive response,” he said, noting domestic violence and elder abuse are two types of crimes that tear at society's fabric.

McMahon also said he hopes look at salaries for his assistants, who he said are underpaid compared to surrounding counties and overall haven't had a raise in years.

“I do believe the (Kane) County Board feels strongly about addressing the salary issue for the assistant state's attorneys,” McMahon said. “It's certainly important to keep talented staff in this office.”

McMahon, who will seek a full, four-year term in 2012, said he does not have any major changes planned to some of the programs put in place by Barsanti, such as the Domestic Violence diversion program and “No Refusal” weekends where a judge is on-call to grant police officers a warrant to draw blood from motorists arrested on charges of driving under the influence that refuse to do field sobriety tests.