Kane sheriff promises support for unsafe jail claim

In an attempt to fend off a $2.5 million budget cut, Kane County Sheriff Don Kramer said Wednesday he can prove the jail was unsafe to house federal inmates no matter what the profits would be.

County board members were skeptical as they moved to slash the first $225,000 from Kramer's office.

Board members announced the initial cut last week in the wake of earlier news Kramer unilaterally canceled a contract with the U.S. Marshals Service. That contract was expected to pay the county about $2.5 million this year in trade for housing federal detainees awaiting trial or transportation.

Board members expressed shock at Kramer's decision and moved to trim about two months' worth of the expected revenue from his budget. But that $225,000 total was determined before board members learned Wednesday only one or two of the federal prisoners remain. On average, the jail housed 95 federal inmates every day.

Kramer said he tried to reverse his decision by asking the marshals to return the inmates, but they continued the exodus.

Then, last week, Kramer dealt with the death of his father, leaving him unavailable to answer questions.

He invited the board's Executive Committee to tour the jail, talk to the staff about what was going on when the federal inmates were there and then work with him on an equitable solution. That solution, however, can't involve a $2.5 million budget cut, Kramer said.

“The 2015 sheriff's office budget is a very bare-bones budget,” Kramer said. “Any reduction of the current budget will cripple my ability to provide the minimum service to our citizens. My decision to reduce the number of inmates in the Kane County jail was not an option, but necessary to address a number of concerns involving the safety and humane treatment of the inmates.”

Kramer did not take questions after his statement. He promised to provide data supporting his claims within the next few weeks.

That support might include a 2010 report from the Illinois Department of Corrections that followed an inspection of the jail. The report, obtained through a Freedom of Information request, has two recommendations.

The first says the jail staffing level should be increased by eight officers “to bring the facility up to the recommended safe operating level.”

The second recommendation suggests unused space in the jail be used to host county inmates who, at the time, were being sent to jails in other counties. The report also suggests unused space could be used to “earn money for the county by being able to house detainees from other jurisdictions.”

The county appears to have followed the second suggestion, at least in part, by inking the deal with the U.S. Marshals. If the staffing levels ever changed, it was never noted positively or negatively in the 2011, 2012, 2013 or 2014 state inspections.

County board Chairman Chris Lauzen said his staff researched eight years of county meeting minutes and found no references to any safety issues at the jail. Board member Cristina Castro said minutes of a 2013 meeting indicate the board questioned jail staffers about any need to add more officers as a result of taking on federal inmates. The response was no more officers were needed at that time, she said.

“We were being audited by the state once a year and twice a year by the marshals,” Castro said. “If there was an unsafe issue, I would have thought the marshal would have told the sheriff right away.”

Lauzen said he needs data beyond the sheriff's personal judgment to support the claim that the jail was unsafe.

“The sheriff will recognize eventually that he's putting his credibility on the line when he makes those arguments and so much evidence is on the other side,” Lauzen said.

“The U.S. Marshals didn't agree. The state of Illinois didn't agree. (Former Sheriff) Pat Perez didn't agree. None of the (county board) committees agree. So what's the one thing that's different now? Well, the sheriff.”

Kramer's report is expected to come at a meeting Feb. 20.