Fee to help abused children could be hard sell in Kane Co. vote

Kane County officials thought they had the answer on how to self-fund the county's safe haven for children during investigations of sexual or physical abuse when they passed a law in 2008 to collect a fee in all criminal cases.

A glitch in the way that law was written forced it to be interpreted as applying only in felony criminal cases. The $30 fee charged in those cases fell short of the funding expectations behind it.

"There was very little money coming out of this," Kane County State's Attorney John Barsanti said in pitching a solution Wednesday.

The solution would create a new $30 fee charged to every defendant who is judged guilty or given supervision in just about every offense from felonies to misdemeanors, business crimes and petty offenses, including traffic cases.

The broad application of the fee turned off some members of the Kane County Board's Executive Committee who heard about it for the first time Wednesday.

Board member Cathy Hurlbut, from Elgin, said she can't support the new fee because it will be charged in cases that have nothing to do with the use of the Child Advocacy Center.

"I have a problem with charging this on traffic cases," Hurlbut said. "You're charging people for a service that's not provided to them, and it's a significant fee. I just think it's over broad. I'm not going to vote for it."

Board member Bill Wyatt, of Aurora, joined her in a "no" vote, but the Executive Committee still had enough votes to pass it along for a full county board vote next week.