Kane Co. seeks to cut new judge costs

The first discussion Kane County officials had about housing the three new judges coming to local courtrooms at the end of this year revealed two important issues: There are no courtrooms for the judges and no money to build additional space.

The second discussion began Thursday, bringing to light two facets of the move that would carry the biggest price tags: A building addition and an upgraded computer system.

Building an addition to the Kane County Judicial Center is the favored long-term approach of the county board and officials who work at the judicial center. County board member Jim Mitchell said he'd like to investigate the potential for the county to build some sort of structure at the judicial center under a lease/build model.

In that model, the county would hire someone to erect a building with enough room to solve the space problem. The county would then lease the building. That plan has no definite price tag, but Mitchell said he believes it may be one of the least expensive options that the county can afford.

The other big ticket item is the cost of upgrading the computer system and network for the judicial system. Chief Judge F. Keith Brown recently told county board members the computer system does such a poor job of tracking the county's caseload that the county has probably lost out on $150,000 in state funding because of inaccurately low reports. Kane County Information Technology Director Roger Fahnestock recently told county officials it may cost as much as $10 million to put a new computer system in to address the county's needs.

Mitchell said that's a costly solution because there is no program that totally covers the needs of the circuit court clerks and other employees of the judicial system. Both Mitchell and Fahnestock believe Kane County isn't alone in that problem.

One suggestion is to approach Will County - which they believe is having similar computer difficulties - about sharing the cost of hiring a team of employees to build a customized system that would work for both counties and save money.

The possibility of teaming with another county, Mitchell said, is part of bigger discussion the county board must have.

"We can't do everything, but we can't cut the judicial system," Mitchell said. "And you can't just cut everyone across the board to find the money. What you have to do is look at the things you're going to give up doing."