Katherine Keefe: Candidate Profile

Note: Answers provided have not been edited for grammar, misspellings or typos. In some instances, candidate claims that could not be immediately verified have been omitted. Jump to:BioKey IssuesQA Bio City: WoodstockWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: McHenry Clerk of the Circuit CourtAge: 46Family: Married to Pat for 25 years, one daughter Hailey, age 16.Occupation: Currently McHenry County Circuit Court Clerk. Prior to being elected in 2008 worked in the Circuit Clerk's Office since 1987. Served as Chief Deputy Circuit Clerk for 10 years prior to election.Education: Graduated from Harvard High School in 1983. Bachelors Degree in Finance from Northern IL University, 1987. Masters Degree in Management from Webster University, 2006.Civic involvement: Currently: Woodstock Backers Club Membership Chairperson, Woodstock High School Post Prom Committee, WHS Fashion Show Co- Chair Previously: Westwood Elementary PTO Book Fair Chairperson, Westwood Elementary PTO Fun Fair Volunteer Chairperson, Creekside Middle School PTO Fundraising Chairperson, MADD McHenry County SecretaryElected offices held: Republican Precinct Committeemen 10 yearsHave you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: NoCandidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 We have applied to the Illinois Supreme Court for authorization to become a pilot project for Civil Electronic Filing.I hope to receive approval to begin Civil E-Filing in the near future and be able to offer it to attorneys and the public during my next term in office.Key Issue 2 We are working on an electronic database for Orders of Protection in McHenry County, which would allow us to electronically transfer new Orders of Protection almost immediately to the Sheriff for service.It would also allow law enforcement agencies access to all Orders of Protection at all hours of the day and on weekends and holidays.Key Issue 3 We are also working on an electronic sentencing order that would allow for quicker, more accurate updating of felony and misdemeanor sentences from the courtrooms and allow the signed orders to be electronically stored without scanning.Questions Answers The office you seek is the hub of the court system. Are there ways in which you can improve the efficiency of the court system?During my first term in office we implemented online searching capability for the Court's public databases which not only increased the Court's transparency to the public, it also increased our customer service ability by reducing the number of phone calls we receive. We have expanded the use of electronic traffic tickets in McHenry County to over 75% of the tickets we receive, which greatly speeds up the data entry of these tickets and allowed for us to reduce our staff, plus reassign remaining staff to other duties. We are constantly working to improve the efficiency of the court system and typically have a number of automation projects in progress.Currently we are working on an electronic sentencing order for use in the criminal courtrooms, in addition to a Civil E-filing program that would allow attorneys and pro-se litigants to file documents in Civil cases online, without having to come to the courthouse.Is there technology that would improve the flow of business in the court system and provide easier access to the public? What would the return on investment be?We implemented a new case management system in the McHenry County Circuit Clerk's office in May of 2009.We have seen significant return on our investment in that we have been able to handle additional case load and judges with less staff than we had prior to the implementation of our new system.We also implemented many process improvements during the upgrade to our new software which allowed us to reduce staff and save the County budget dollars during some difficult budget cycles.One of the auditor's duties is to collect economic interest statements from elected officials. Do you believe that as auditor you can or should examine those statements and look for conflicts of interest?N/ACircuit Clerk, not AuditorWith the circuit clerk's office being a statutory office with some autonomy from the county board, are you comfortable with the way budgeting is handled? Please explain.I have worked well with the McHenry County Board for many years during budgeting time.While the Circuit Clerk and Chief Judge have spending authority over Court Automation Funds, and the Circuit Clerk has spending authority alone over the Document Storage Fund, our budget still needs approval from the McHenry County Board.I know that in some counties the Circuit Clerk has clashed with the County Board over budget issues.I feel we have been good stewards of these funds in McHenry County, using them to advance the use of technology in the courts, but also acting in cooperation with the County Board during difficult financial times to assist with the balancing of the budget.