Theresa E. Barreiro: 2024 candidate for Kane County Circuit Court Clerk

Bio

Party: Democrat

Office Sought: Kane County Circuit Court Clerk

City: Aurora

Age: 62

Occupation: Kane County Circuit Clerk

Previous offices held: Kane County Board

Why are you running for this office, whether for reelection or election for the first time? Is there a particular issue that motivates you? If so, what?

I was elected as the Kane County Circuit Clerk in 2020. I am running for reelection in order to continue the work that I began. Four years is not enough so I am looking forward to another term to make the circuit clerk's office a model for others to follow.

Our office has been recognized for our good work and feedback has been positive. I am motivated by the progress that has been made and look forward to future challenges. When I was elected the office was thought of very negatively, employee moral was very low. We have changed that with the state, county and the employees. I am very proud of that!

If you are an incumbent, describe your main contributions. Tell us of any important initiatives you've led. If you are a challenger, what would you bring to the board and what would your priority be?

I am proud of many initiatives that have been accomplished during my first term.

1. I tackled the big issue of an outdated computer system. I worked with IT and our vendor to get several upgrades accomplished. These upgrades provided the ability for remote access to information and created improved efficiencies. There have been compliments from attorneys, judges, staff and the public who appreciate the improved functionality of the computer system.

2. I was confronted with a huge number of vacancies. The issue was the pay. As a result we are more competitive and we are almost fully staffed.

3. We worked with our Kane County judicial partners to work on implementation of the SAFE-T Act. Preparing for the SAFE-T Act required collaboration and analysis of the current processes and the required changes. As a result, we served as a pilot program for the rest of the state to follow.

4. Created a drop box outside the building for those that can't make payments during office hours.

Describe your position regarding the allocation of resources in the clerk of the circuit court's office. Are personnel allocated as they should be? Are there capital expense or other budgetary items that the office must address, and, if so, how do you propose to address them?

Organizational changes were made in my first year followed by tweaks as needed. No major changes are needed other than continuing with cross training. We took care of some basic updating to the office. Unfortunately, Kane County is experiencing budget challenges and major capital expenses is not going to be realistic in the near future.

The biggest challenge the circuit clerk's office is facing is the budget. The Kane County Board has considered cutting our budget by more than $1 million on top of reductions of 6% in the proposed 2025 budget. These reductions will result in less staffing. Authorized staffing was 126 in 2018 and is currently 109. The clerk's office provides clerks for 32 courtrooms which need administrative support by Illinois Statute. The circuit clerk's office is statutory.

Name one concrete program you’ll create or personnel move you’ll make to improve efficiency in the office or make it more successful. Explain how it will be funded and how you will overcome any obstacles to initiating it.

One of my ideas to help create efficiencies was to cross train clerks to be able to work in several different courtrooms. This will provide backups in the event of staff shortages. Previously, we had two separate teams.

This has been an arduous task but we are making great progress. We combined the Civil and Criminal Teams to Court and Office. Filling vacancies has helped move this initiative forward. We also created a work from home team also cost neutral to the county. That team has expanded with the increase of easy access through eFiling.

We received over $1 million in grants for microfilming and digitizing records. Once the grant has been fully utilized, we will be the first county in the state that has up to date digitized records. This is more efficient for staff and the public. I'm also looking into technology that would allow us not to rely on county ITD, and help us operate more efficiently.

Describe your position on transparency in the office and the ease of access to records by the public. If you believe improvements are needed, what are they and how would you go about achieving them?

Information in the Circuit Clerk's Office is exempt from FOIA because we are under the judicial umbrella. However, a lot of information can obtained online from our odyssey portal. This is a huge benefit to lawyers, judges and the people in the legal system. They can look up information from their personal computers or come to our viewing library. We also initiated Defendant Access with our vendor. With this someone can pay their fines easier online.

There will also be a kiosk in the courthouse to look up a case and pay on it similar to an ATM, without standing in line. We expanded our hours at the Aurora Branch Court so the public won't have to come all the way to St. Charles. I plan on expanding the hours at other locations throughout the county.