DuPage sheriff officials now blame state's attorney's office for bad info on judge's ruling
DuPage County sheriff's officials have again revised their explanation for ending the jail's nearly 32-year relationship with JUST of DuPage, a nonprofit that provides job training, addiction treatment and religious services to inmates.
After first saying it was based on a judge's ruling on a case, then admitting they issued a "poorly worded" statement that may have misrepresented Judge George Bakalis' position, sheriff's officials now say they issued the original statement about the ruling after receiving thirdhand information from the DuPage County state's attorney's office.
"The sheriff's office received information about that ruling from the state's attorney's office before the (courtroom hearing) transcripts came out," Undersheriff Frank Bibianno said late Tuesday. "We haven't been in possession of them for that long. That initial line (of the original statement) bears some clarification, as I said."
Bibianno was unable to identify the source of the incorrect information.
"I, personally, never talked to anyone from the state's attorney's office about this, but someone from the state's attorney's office talked to someone at the sheriff's office about that hearing," he said. "And that's how the erroneous information made its way into that statement before we saw the transcripts or knew what was said."
Paul Darrah, spokesman for DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin, on Wednesday denied claims that his office was the source of the erroneous information.
"Following the hearing, our only contact with the sheriff's office was to notify them that the judge ruled against the defendant's motion to reconsider the sentence and against giving him the requested credit," Darrah said. "That was our only contact with the sheriff's office in regards to this case."
All the statements stem from an Aug. 7 court hearing involving an inmate who was sentenced to 18 years for a drug-induced homicide and was seeking a reduced sentence based, in part, on some voluntary JUST classes he had participated in during his nearly three years in jail.
At issue is an Aug. 22 statement from a sheriff's spokesman that said the office was canceling its relationship with JUST, which stands for Justice Understanding Service Teaching. JUST officials have been told their last day in the jail will be Sept. 10.
"It came to the office's attention that a DuPage County Judge has recently ruled that the current substance abuse recovery program, as administered by JUST, does not meet the Illinois Department of Corrections standards as set forth by Illinois State statute," the statement read.
According to hearing transcripts, Assistant State's Attorney Amanda Meindl argued the JUST programs don't meet state statutes. Meindl is married to Sheriff John Zaruba's son, Christopher Zaruba, who is a Republican candidate for DuPage County Board District 4 in November's election.
"And with regards to this sentencing credit issue, it's the People's position that the DuPage County Jail does not provide a 60-day, or longer, full-time program as delineated in the statute, 730 ILCS 5/3-6-3," Meindl said in her closing arguments, according to the transcripts.
The seriousness of the inmate's charged offense prohibited him from entering the jail's "recovery pod," where certified counselors work with inmates struggling with addiction.
In his decision not to extend credit to the inmate, according to the transcripts, Bakalis specifically said he was not ruling on whether recovery pod credit would or could be extended because the inmate was never in the pod.
Despite the shifting explanation, sheriff's officials said they will not reinstate JUST and are committed to partnering with the DuPage County Health Department on a three-tiered multidenominational approach to address substance abuse and mental health. And they hope to do it as seamlessly as possible after Sept. 10.