advertisement

Kane County relaunches electronic home monitoring program, cost savings predicted

With monitoring anklets snapped into place on five people Tuesday morning, the Kane County Sheriff's Office relaunched its electronic home monitoring program for inmates sentenced to jail time for nonviolent offenses,

The program was scrapped by the Kane County Board in late 2017 due to budget constraints. Last year, Sheriff Ron Hain and his office worked to secure new equipment and revive the program, which he estimates could potentially save $950,000 a year primarily through reducing the jail population.

Hain says electronic home monitoring, or EHM, holds sentenced offenders accountable by having them serve their sentences for traffic and other crimes at home so they can work, not lose their jobs and continue to support their families.

"It also fulfills our mission of decreasing recidivism and increasing public safety while giving people opportunities," he said.

The program, which will serve about 80 to 100 inmates at a time, will help reduce the jail population that costs $62 per day to house, clothe and feed one inmate. Also, the office charges inmates $10 a day for the equipment, while paying $3.75 per day to rent the device, Hain said.

Last summer, Hain said he would have to hire seven more people to staff a unit to monitor those on EHM. However, no new hires were needed as he reorganized and reassigned two deputies.

Hain, who had hoped to relaunch the program in September 2019, said his office was ready in December but he wanted to wait until the start of the new year.

"It took a lot of collaboration across the board," said Hain, who noted State's Attorney Joe McMahon's office and Chief Judge Clint Hull were supportive of the program. "We had to create policy and get our staffing up and trained."

The new program features two major changes - participants must enroll in a diversion or job placement program offered through the jail, and armed sheriff's deputies in the newly formed Corrections Diversion Team will respond to violations. Previously, probation officers without arresting powers would respond, with local police providing backup.

The Corrections Diversion team also is tasked with serving civil court papers, arrest warrants, and evictions.

Hain hopes to open up the EHM program as a bond condition for defendants awaiting trial after about three to four months while the office works out any bugs in the system.

In late 2017, the EMH program was a victim of the 3.6% expense cut the county board imposed across all departments to plug a $5.9 million deficit. Susan Clancy Boles, who served as chief judge at the time, pointed to the program as the only non-mandated expense in the court services department large enough to satisfy the cut.

Electronic monitoring out in Kane's final budget vote

Kane County sheriff hopes to reinstate electronic home monitoring by September

Kane County leaders working to bring back electronic home monitoring

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.