Kane to figure out how to take in DuPage juveniles
Kane County Board members will debate the benefits of accommodating juvenile offenders from DuPage County in Kane's youth jail after a contentious vote by DuPage officials on the pending contract.
How quickly the deal moves forward will depend on a timeline Kane County Board Chairman Karen McConnaughay and Chief Judge F. Keith Brown will establish.
DuPage County Board members voted 11-7 Tuesday night to proceed with a deal. DuPage's juvenile detention center has operated with a deficit in recent years. Proponents of the deal in DuPage, including board Chairman Dan Cronin, believe the deal will save DuPage taxpayers at least $800,000 a year. Opponents chastised the move as a waste of DuPage's state-of-the-art facility.
If the Kane County Board approves the deal, it would provide a new income stream.
The contact is a four-year agreement that would see DuPage County pay Kane County $110 per day per child. DuPage's facility has an average daily population of 24. If that average carries over to Kane's facility, it would net an average of $2,640 per day for Kane County.
McConnaughay and Brown already have promoted the idea in Kane County, but the issue has not received any extensive debate by county board members. Members of Kane County's Judicial and Public Safety Committee asked general questions of the staff back in August. Committee members were told Kane's facility has both the space and programs ready to house the additional children with no additional risks to the current population.
McConnaughay said in an interview Wednesday that she'd prefer the pending contract go through the county's traditional committee vetting process. However, she is open to skipping a couple of steps and fast-tracking the contract if DuPage officials require a more immediate answer. McConnaughay said she doesn't expect Kane County Board members will balk at approving the contract as Kane already houses juveniles from DeKalb, Kendall and McHenry Counties in addition to Kane's own juvenile offenders.
“This isn't exactly breaking new ground for Kane County,” McConnaughay said.