Electronic monitoring out in Kane's final budget vote

Up to 102 criminal defendants deemed worthy of constant tracking by Kane County's judicial system will either go to jail or be entrusted to behave in society as the county board eliminated its electronic monitoring program Tuesday.

The move comes as part of a final vote on the 2018 budget. The board imposed a 3.6 percent expense cut across all departments to address a $5.9 million deficit. Chief Judge Susan Clancy Boles identified the electronic monitoring program as the only non-mandated expense in the court services department large enough to fulfill the cut. Though Boles said she could not support eliminating electronic monitoring, several board members latched onto the idea as an entry point to question the program's efficiency. It also became leverage in a push to increase the fee that funds security officers in courtrooms. Boles refused to raise the fee, which is already on the higher end and challenging to collect.

Board member Theresa Barreiro pitched a last-minute budget change to use $673,000 in reserves to keep the program alive long enough to continue negotiations.

"This is a public safety emergency," Barreiro said. "And it's fiscally responsible. It's more costly to put someone in jail."

The plan fell two votes short. Board member John Hoscheit said the idea that eliminating electronic monitoring is a threat to public safety is "disingenuous."

"I'm confident that if there are violent criminals or people who need to be incarcerated that the court system will make sure that gets done," Hoscheit said.

Locking more people up in the jail may not be the only move left.

County board member Mark Davoust announced during his vote in favor of Barreiro's plan there are discussions about involving Sheriff Don Kramer in the monitoring program. In an interview, Davoust said it's not clear what Kramer's role would be, but there is an idea that involving Kramer or moving the program under the sheriff's jurisdiction may improve efficiency. Under state law, the sheriff is one of the few options to run the monitoring program other than the probation department.

Davoust said he hopes those discussions help preserve the safety of the general community.

"It only takes one of those 102 people in the program to do something bad, and then you're on the 10 o'clock news answering questions about why you cut this program," Davoust said.

A second factor relates to a legal opinion issued by the state's attorney's office regarding the court services fee. A copy of the opinion obtained by the Daily Herald shows the county board doesn't need Boles' permission to raise the court security fee. It can hike the fee without her as long as the increase applies to both civil and criminal cases. The office issued the opinion Oct. 3. But several county board members said they just read the opinion in the last few days.

Board member Kurt Kojzarek said he voted to cut the program because the judiciary needed to share in the budget cuts and no other option came forward. As far as the board's pushing through a court security fee increase, having the legal authority is not the only factor.

"The chief judge said she opposes this fee increase," Kojzarek said. "For us to force an increase on her without her consent is not something we've done before to any department head."

The electronic monitoring program is on track for elimination by the end of the first quarter of 2018.