Kane County felony charges up about 7 percent

The number of felony cases charged in Kane County court is up about 7 percent compared to the same time period last year, State's Attorney Joe McMahon said Tuesday.

As of June 30, 1,079 cases had been filed, compared to 1,003 in 2015.

He did not cite any particular incident or trend that would account for the increase.

McMahon, speaking at his monthly meeting with reporters, said he expects the second half of the year to have more new cases than the first half.

He attributes that, in part, to July and August being in the second half of the year. One reason for increased crime in those months is that teens are out of school and committing more crimes during those months, he said.

McMahon said that of the cases filed in the first half, most "touched on" issues of alcohol use, drug abuse, mental illness and domestic violence.

"Those issues are common to so many cases that come into the system," he said.

To him, that "highlights a need" for increasing resources including programs for substance abuse and mental illness treatment, drug and mental health courts, and the domestic violence pretrial diversion program.