The Law and Justice Committee of the DeKalb County Board met on Monday, November 14, 2005 @ 6:30p.m. in the DeKalb County Administration Building’s Conference Room East.  Chairman Sue Leifheit called the meeting to order.  Members present were Rich Osborne, Anita Turner, Roger Steimel and Eric Johnson.  Ms. Vary and Ms. LaVigne were absent.  Others present were Ken Johnson, Margi Gilmour, Jeff Whelan and Denny Miller.

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES

          Moved by Ms. Turner, seconded by Mr. Steimel, and it was carried unanimously to approve the minutes from the October 2005 meeting.

APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

          Moved by Mr. Johnson, seconded by Mr. Steimel, and it was carried unanimously to approve the agenda.

PUBLIC DEFENDER’S REPORT

          Mr. Ken Johnson, DeKalb County Public Defender, said that when he checked the numbers from last year at this time compared to his numbers today, his finding was that they were pretty much even for felonies. However, the number of domestic cases seems to be a little bit higher, about 10-15% higher ratio than last year.  The numbers being the same from the felony level is a concern because of the collection program was started by the Judiciary.  When they took cases from his department, they dropped his caseload numbers by 25%.  He should have seen a decrease in his numbers, but he has not.

          Mr. Johnson told the committee that his department will be under budget and that he has been for the past five years.  As of July 1, 2006, the Supreme Court passed a new law that requires all new attorneys after December 1, 2005 who have been sworn-in, to complete 15 hours of basic skill training.  All experienced attorneys that have over a year in service or have been sworn in prior to December 1, 2005, have to complete 20 hours within the next 2 years, an additional 25 hours within the following 2 years, and then 30 hours of continuing legal education (CLE) classes.  A lot of these classes are extremely expensive, said Mr. Johnson.  He is concerned because the County of DeKalb has been very generous with the amount of training dollars that the county has given him.  To try and keep the costs down he is going to try and work with Kane County.  The problem is that you have to belong to the Kane County Bar Association to get a special rate.  Their rates are cheaper, but they still are going to cost money to do it.  They will continue to look into it, said Mr. Johnson. 

COURT SERVICES MONTHLY REPORT

          Ms. Margi Gilmour, Director of the Court Services Department, briefly reviewed her monthly report.  She says that the numbers on her adult report  are consistent.  They handled about 320 cases of felonies between her 4 officers, 110 misdemeanors, and about 25 DUI’s.  The Community Services Report shows that the numbers have been consistent.  They had a little jump in the juvenile referrals for September, that is, 20 kids were ordered hours and is the highest that they have had all year, said Ms. Gilmour.

          In her juvenile report, there were 17 kids detained, of which, 1 was for the 2^nd time, 2 for the 1st, 4 for the 2nd time, 5 for the 3^rd time, and then 1 each for the 6^th, 7^th, 8^th, 9^th and 13^th time. Out of the 2 kids still at Arrowhead the one female was released and the male is still there.  There was one more male ordered to Focus House and he will show up on the October report.

          Ms. Gilmour informed the committee that her staff are union members and in the local Teamsters 330.  They are at the end of their 3-year contract and negotiations have started.  She sits at the negotiating table with the Chief Judge’s attorney.  At this point they have not seen a wage proposal, but they hope to see one soon.  They would like to get it taken care of shortly so that the members do not have to work without a contract.

          They had a vacancy in her department for a juvenile officer, which has now been filled.  The new person is a juvenile officer from Fulton County with about 5 years experience.  She will begin next week.

SHERIFF’S JAIL REPORT

Chairman Leifheit said that the average daily population was 96 for the month of October.  On page two it shows that the Sheriff has spent $95,610.00 so far for transporting prisoners to out-of-county facilities.  They are about $73,000.00 over budget, said Chairman Leifheit.  She reminded the committee that the Sheriff only budgeted for $22,000.00 for 2005.

ESDA AND CORONER’S DEPARTMENT UPDATE

          Mr. Dennis Miller, DeKalb County ESDA Director, said that the County is NIMS compliant because of federal requirements.  This compliance is basically for administration and command, said Mr. Miller.  There have been a number of training events around the County for this and Chairman Tobias has attended them and is compliant, along with the County of DeKalb.  If we were not compliant we would not be eligible for any funding from the Federal Government.  The plan has been submitted and he is awaiting the approval.

          Ms. Turner asked if the County had received any monies from the Federal Government?  Mr. Miller said that we received money in 2004 and he bought a lot of items for fire service and law enforcement.

          Mr. Johnson asked Mr. Miller if the County and the Health Department were prepared for the Bird Flu?  Mr. Miller said yes, that the Convocation Center has been suggested by the Public Health Director, Karen Grush, to be used as the distribution center for drugs. 

Coroner’s Update

          Mr. Miller said that as of today there have been 423 deaths and as of tomorrow he will have 50 autopsies for this year.  He had 48 of them last year.  He is seeing more victims of homicides in the county now, which proves that this area is changing. 

          The cremations so far are over the numbers from last year, again.  The caseload is increasing but is manageable.  The public demands more for less, he further stated.

          Donations for tissues are increasing .  It is at no expense for the family.  A lot of the donations are done right in his office.

          Mr. Whelan asked Mr. Miller how many coroner’s inquests have they done?  Mr. Miller said that they have the inquests about once a month.

ADJOURNMENT

          Moved by Ms. Turner, seconded by Mr. Johnson, and it was carried unanimously to adjourn the meeting.

                                                          Respectfully submitted,

__________________________________                                                                         Chairman Sue Leifheit

__________________________________

Mary C. Supple, Secretary

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