DeKalb County, Illinois

Minutes of the
Law & Justice Committee

March 15, 2010

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LAW AND JUSTICE COMMITTEE

MINUTES

March 15, 2010

The Law and Justice Committee of the DeKalb County Board met on Monday, March 15, 2010 @ 6:30p.m. in the DeKalb County Legislative Center’s east side of the Gathertorium.  Chairman Marlene Allen called the meeting to order.  Those present were Riley Oncken, Michael Stuckert and Anita Turner.  Mr. Tyson and Mr. Chambliss were absent.  A quorum was present.  Dennis Miller, Margi Gilmour, Julian Magdaleno and Regina Harris were also present.

Mr. Chambliss arrived at 6:40p.m. and Mr. Tyson arrived at 6:43p.m. 

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES

          Moved by Mr. Oncken, seconded by Ms. Turner, and it was carried unanimously to approve the minutes from February 2010.       

APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

            Chairman Allen noted that she would amend the agenda to include Ms. Marilyn Stromborg of the DUI Court.

Moved by Mr. Oncken, seconded by Mr. Stuckert, and it was carried unanimously to approve the amended agenda

UPDATE ON DUI COURT

          Ms. Marilyn Stromborg, Coordinator of the DUI Court, updated the committee on what they are doing.  She stated that this court is different from the Drug Court, they meet at different times.  The DUI Court has six people in it.  It is very different than the Drug Court.  These people do not have extensive criminal records. They usually have been issued their third DUI, she said.   They mostly have private attorneys and the defendants seem to take a significant time longer from court to enter into the program.  Their first person to graduate from the DUI Court will be on May 14, 2010 along with the people who are graduating from the Drug Court Program. 

          Ms. Stromborg also wanted the committee members to know that she has applied for a Federal Grant for Adult Drug Court in the about of $200,000.  She will let the committee know if she receives it.

ESDA ANNUAL REPORT

          Mr. Dennis Miller, ESDA Director for DeKalb County, said that the County’s Plan was updated and approved in 2009. He said that the Amateur Radio Operators consists of volunteers who are spotters throughout the County for severe storm watch.  He said that they do an outstanding job and a great asset to the County.  He also uses the Sheriff’s Auxiliary too.

Last year he hosted 5 IEMA training courses in the County for volunteers and fire departments.  They just finished up one this past week.  He said that his office was notified and responded to 16 separate incidents this past year.  Most were fuel leaks, while others involved breech in a retention pond that caused a small spill into the Kishwaukee River, a train verse a pedestrian mishap and an airplane crash that took the lives of 2 people.

His department was also awarded a grant to develop a countywide Tactical Interoperable Communications Plan.  This grant is for planning purposes only.  He is going to hirer a contractor with the grant money to do this Plan for our County.  This contractor has done other plans before.

CORONER’S ANNUAL REPORT

          Mr. Miller, also the Coroner’s Department Director, informed the committee about their Annual Report. 

          He said that he handled 532 cases last year and cremations are on the rise.  Highlights on the Coroner’s Statistical Report are found on page 4.  There were zero inquests last year and 14 tissue organ donors.  He said that heroin is on the rise in this area. The heroin cases were in the City of DeKalb general area.

          The committee thanked Mr. Miller for his very informative reports.

COURT SERVICES REPORTS – MS. MARGI GILMOUR

          Ms. Gilmour, Director of the DeKalb County Court Services Department, said that with regards to the Adult Report her department saw 23 new cases.  The CRS continues to be busy.  

          Ms. Gilmour said that one juvenile that is in residential placement has received Social Security (SSI) benefits.  Ms. Gilmour was told that the benefits will be coming to her department and that amount would equal about $880.00 a month.  They will be receiving about $4,400.00 in back pay, too.

PUBLIC DEFENDER’S REPORT

          Ms. Regina Harris, the DeKalb County Public Defender, said that they had 343 new cases in her department of which 105 were new felony cases, 70 were felony DUI or domestic violence cases, and 178 were divided among misdemeanor/traffic and juvenile courtrooms.  They closed about 260 cases last month, too.  They are about on pace for what they did last year in terms of numbers, but the nature of the cases is continuing to be very different than in the past.

          Ms. Harris said that the nature of the crime is continuing to change in DeKalb County.  She is also seeing an increase in gang related activity here.

          The committee discussed with Ms. Harris several gang issues that are going on in our County.  After a brief discussion, it was decided that Mr. Oncken will get in touch with someone from the DeKalb Police Department to see if someone from the Gang Unit can come to our next Law and Justice Committee meeting to make a presentation.   

JAIL REPORT

Chairman Allen briefly covered the Jail Report and said that there were 114 inmates housed in the Jail in February 2010.  She said that there were 129 inmates housed in the Jail for the month of January 2010.

          Ms. Turner suggested that the County Board may want to educate the public about what is going on in our County and the Jail.

ADJOURNMENT

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

                                                Respectfully submitted,

                                                _________________________________

                                                Marlene Allen, Chairman

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