Lake Co. allows sheriff to charge bond fee

The price of freedom is about to go up.

The county board's Law and Judicial committee has approved a measure that will allow the sheriff's office to charge a fee for processing bonds.

Under the measure, those wishing to get out of jail while a criminal case is pending against them will be charged $21 over the amount of their bond.

A study of the costs of processing the bonds by Sequoia Consulting Group found the sheriff's office was spending $21.02 per bond, according to the county's Department of Finance and Administrative Services Department.

Although the fee is new, Lake County is just catching up with some of its neighbors in charging for bond processing.

Kane County charges $46 per bond, while the cost is $30 in DuPage, $28 in McHenry and $15 in Winnebago.

The fee will go into effect once the measure is approved by the full county board.

Officer awarded:

Lake County Probation Officer Christine Hecker will be attending a national training conference in Charlotte, N.C. next month free of charge.

Hecker, a probation officer since 1997, is being honored for her work on the development and administration of the Failure to Appear program in the pretrial services division.

The two-year-old program combines probation officers and deputies from the sheriff's warrants division in tracking down those who skip court dates.

Hecker is one of four probation officers nationwide who are receiving the James B. Droege Memorial Scholarship from the National Association of Pretrial Services.

The scholarship covers her travel, hotel and training expenses at the conference, to be held Sept. 13 through 16.

Support groups:

A Safe Place offers weekly support groups to victims of domestic violence in several areas of the county.

Groups meet regularly in Deerfield, Round Lake, Vernon Hills, Waukegan and Zion.

Location of the meetings is confidential, but those interested in attending can call (847) 249-4450 for more information.