The Law and Justice Committee of the DeKalb County Board met on Monday, April 10, 2006 @ 6:30p.m. in the DeKalb County Administration Building’s Conference Room East.  Chairman Sue Leifheit called the meeting to order.  Members present were Richard Osborne, Pat Vary, Pat LaVigne and Roger Steimel.  Anita Turner was absent.  Others present were Ken Johnson, Margi Gilmour, Ray Bockman and Sheriff Roger Scott.

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES

            Ms. Vary said that she would like Ms. Supple to check with Mr. Matekaitis on his statement at the bottom of the 1^st page, second to the last paragraph starting at “Even over the last 13 years….”.  She also wanted a comma to be inserted on the second page 5^th paragraph, 5^th line so that the reading of the sentence is clearer.

            Moved by Ms. Vary, seconded by Mr. LaVigne, and it was carried unanimously to approve the amended minutes from March, 2006.

APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

            Moved by Mr. Steimel, seconded by Ms. Vary, and it was carried unanimously to approve the agenda as presented.

PUBLIC DEFENDER’S REPORT

Mr. Ken Johnson, DeKalb County Public Defender, said that he has an additional case in his office dealing with the recent shooting case that involves a fifteen year old boy.  Statutorily it states that it is mandatory that he be tried as an adult and is automatically transferred to the adult court.  He is being held in the Kane County Juvenile Detention Center, and Mr. Johnson drives back and forth to meet with him on the case.  This case will have a trickle-down effect on his office and his juvenile court call.  What he means by that statement is that he believes there will be more in-depth investigation done by the State’s Attorney’s Office as to gang activity. 

Mr. Johnson wanted to let the committee know that there has been great progress regarding the drug court.  They are going through certain planning stages currently.

He has been asked by Judge Klein to attend a Training Seminar for Public Defenders on Drug Courts in Reno, Nevada this year.  It is for one week and will be held at the Judicial College out there.

COURT SERVICES REPORT

            Ms. Margi Gilmour, Director of DeKalb County Court Services, said that in February there were about 450 active adult cases.  They held their first Adult SWAP, and only 7 adults showed up out of 25 adults on April 1, 2006.  The Juvenile SWAP date is the weekend after Easter.

            She continued by stating that the Juvenile Report reflects the two placements that they had and that next month it will show that 3 or 4 more kids were put in placement - not a good month.

She said that out of the 11 detentions that they had in February, 5 kids were detained for the 1^st time, 2 for the 2^nd time, 1 for the 3^rd time, 2 for the 5^th time, and 1 for the 6^th time. 

            Ms. Gilmour pointed out to the committee that the new case in the Public Defender’s Office involving the fifteen year old being house in the Juvenile Detention Center in Kane County, will probably expend all the money that they have left in the draw-down account.

            Ms. Gilmour also informed the committee that her Juvenile Supervisor resigned recently, and therefore she has a vacancy in her department for that position.  Judge Klein is looking into the replacement for that position.

SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT REPORTS

Jail Report – Average Daily Population

            Sheriff Scott said that the average daily population for the month of March 2006 was 98 inmates.  Mr. Osborne asked the Sheriff about the figure on the second page that states that the FY2006 Number of Inmates is 9 for the month of March and the FY2006 Inmate Days is 438 days.  How did 9 inmates accumulate 438 days? Mr. Osborne asked.    Sheriff Scott said that he did not know.  He will check on those figures. 

Sheriff’s Annual Report

            Sheriff Scott reviewed his annual report for the committee for the year 2005.  He highlighted various pages that he felt would interest the members.  On page 10 the report discusses the communication division and 911 calls.  It states that 70% of 911 calls come through his office, and the other 30% are handled by other 911 dispatch centers in the County.   Page 16 discusses the Patrol Division and states that the Sheriff’s Department is the primary patrol unit in the County.   Page 21 reflects the DUI Arrests for 2005, which was lower than 2004.  Page 27 reflects the Vehicle Deployment Program.  The total fuel consumption in 2005 was 52,645 gallons of fuel, which is down 2,484 gallons from the 2004 total of 55,129 gallons.  The 2005 total is down 6,838 gallons from the 200 total of 59,483 gallons.  This represents an 11% decrease in fuel consumption from FY2000 through FY2005.

            On page 30 it shows that his department worked on 2 criminal investigations in 2005. His office does participate in all homicide cases throughout the county.  Identity Theft appears to be growing in the county.

            On a good note, the vast majority (87%) of investigative cases opened in 2005 were property crimes as opposed to only 13% crimes against persons.  Property crimes include burglaries, thefts, deceptive practice, frauds, auto thefts, criminal damage and arson. 

            The traffic crash summary appears on page 40, page 42 highlights the types of traffic accidents, and page 43 covers the intersection traffic crashes.  Page 44 discusses the primary causes of the Top 2 intersections involved in accidents. Finally, pages 48 and 49 highlight death and alcohol on highways. 

            Page 64 discusses the Jail programs and Activities, and page 71 discusses the EHM (Electronic Home Monitoring) program in the county.  Page 78 highlights the New Horizons for 2005, which was the Domestic Violence Grant.  The DeKalb County State’s Attorney’s Office was the recipient of a Domestic Violence Grant from the Department of Justice in September of 2004.  The grant provided full funding for a Domestic Violence Prosecutor, Domestic Violence Investigator and Victim Advocate.  Since February 2005, investigator Sarah Frazier from the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department has been assigned to the State’s Attorney’s Office to assist in the investigation of domestic violence cases.  A full-time investigator has resulted in the prosecution of more serious domestic violence cases including the first stalking case in DeKalb County. 

FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE JAIL POPULATON REVIEW COMMITTEE

            Mr. Ray Bockman, DeKalb County Administrator, summarized the findings and recommendations of the Jail Population Review Committee.

            Mr. Bockman said that they found that the county is at the limit of what can be done here given the current resources for the jail.  They discussed a small expansion of EHM capacity and it will be explored; however, the support of this item is not universal.  The County is exporting prisoners now, and the population is trending up.  Not only is the jail out of space, but the following departments are too: State’s Attorney’s Office, Circuit Clerk, Public Defender, Court Services and the Judiciary.  Other problems that they discussed were problems with elevator breakdowns in the courthouse and pedestrian concerns crossing Route 23. 

            Mr. Bockman continued by summarizing the three recommendations by the Jail Population Review Committee.  They are:

a.)                Consider building both jail phases now.  The Jail master plan recommended adding 70 beds to create a total of 127 beds to meet the projected bed needs to 2015 and providing a shelled out building with space for 108 additional beds (235 total) to meet our space needs through 2025.  Given the elapsed time we should look at building both phases now. This would also create at least the possibility of recovering some of our capital costs through a rental program. 

b.)               Consider a plan to resolve all criminal justice overcrowding, not just the jail.  A formal study, underway now, will help assess the mid and long-term space needs of the remainder of the criminal justice system.  At this point we know that all departments are out of space and all are predicting increases in service demands.  Additional information and recommendations should be available by June/July of this year.

c.)                The Chairman should consider forming a Referendum Advisory Committee to evaluate a Fall 2006 effort. 

He finally stated that all three recommendations should be forwarded to the full County Board by June or July of 2006 for consideration.  

ADJOURNMENT

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

                                                                        Respectfully submitted,

                                                                        ________________________________  

                                                                        Sue Leifheit, Chairman

______________________________    

Mary C. Supple, Secretary