New Kane traffic court gets revved up later this week

If the new Kane County Traffic Court in St. Charles was a car, it was idling along Monday with only eight cases on the docket.

The new court branch, located at 530 S. Randall Road, will pick up speed with about 150 traffic cases Tuesday and then 342 by Friday.

“We wanted to keep it light (Monday) so we didn’t have 150 people wandering around,” said Doug Naughton, court administrator for the 16th Judicial Circuit, adding officials did not receive complaints or hear of defendants who showed up in the wrong location.

Naughton said the court clerk mailed out notices to traffic defendants about a month ago informing them of the new site, which will handle cases from St. Charles, Geneva, Batavia, Elburn, Hampshire, Campton Hills, Maple Park and Wayne, along with the Kane County Forest Preserve and Illinois State Police Districts 2 and 15.

Large banners explaining the change have been posted at the Kane County Judicial Center on Route 38 in St. Charles, and officials will be ready with maps this week to help folks get to the right spot.

“A lot of times, you just go to where you were the last time (you had a ticket),” Naughton said. “The big test will come later in the week, especially Friday.”

Naughton also expects the new facility to make parking easier at the St. Charles location, especially on Thursdays.

Tim Harbaugh, Kane County’s facilities manager, said the renovation cost about $4 million and the new facility has about 22,000 square feet.

While the inside in complete, the parking lot still needs work and that will be done by the end of May, he said.