Cook County Board of Commissioners Finance Committee - Departmental Budget Hearings
Day #7 - October 28, 2016        

Cook County Sheriff - presented by Tom Dart, Cook County Sheriff
Proposed Budget
FY17 - $633,359,903 
FY16 - $520,257,341    
Proposed FTEs
FY17 - 6,667 FTEs
FY16 - 6,772 FTE’s
In 2016 - Detainees in the Jail number about 8300 with approximately 2500 on Electronic Monitoring (EM)  
In 2010 - Detainees numbered closer to 10,000 in jail with only a few hundred on EM.

Key Information Presented:
Sheriff Dart gave a short presentation about how his budget is up while his jail population is down. He indicated the cost of overtime and the increase in special programs set up for detainees are the reasons for the budget increase. His officers are also spending more time helping other police districts, especially in the southern suburbs. Most of his time was spent answering the commissioners’ questions. He took all of the questions very seriously and gave thoughtful and expansive answers. When he did not have a good answer ready for a serious issue, he always said “I would welcome suggestions on how to handle this.” By appearing to not know everything about law enforcement and incarceration, he used his time to engage in a very thoughtful dialogue. The Commissioners who were present were Sims, Garcia, Boykin, Morrison, Silvestri, Schneider, Moore, Gainer, and Daley.

Questions/Comments from Commissioners:

• Comm. Sims asked about the “SAVE” program. The Sheriff said that it was aimed at detainees who were 18-23 years of age, male, and from high crime neighborhoods. These young men are asking for help in parenting and help in staying away from gangs. The Sheriff admitted to having problems keeping rival gangs apart when housing them on tiers in certain divisions. He said separation was easier when there were larger, more organized gangs in Chicago. Now these large gangs have lots of subgroups and it is difficult to determine gang loyalties.
• The Commissioner asked about alternative housing for jailed substance abusers and those detainees with mental health issues. The Sheriff appealed to the board for more funding to house these inmates outside of the jail, which he said was much cheaper than housing them inside. He also spoke of the need for more CIT (Crisis Intervention Team) training of all police in Cook.
• Comm. Silvestri asked about the mental health of the Corrections Officers. The Sheriff admitted to a higher than average suicide rate among his CO’s. Each CO is given a psychology screening upon hiring and then given support for any issues that come up during their employment by a peer support staff.
• The Commissioner asked about the abuse of sick time, especially during holidays and sporting events. The Commissioner asked if there was a correlation of employees getting migraine headaches and the Cubs being in the World Series. There was some laughter in the crowd after that remark, but then the Sheriff got serious.  He tried to tie attendance to promotions, but this did not seem to make a big difference. He admitted that sick time abuse is a terrible problem that he did not exactly know how to solve. He welcomed suggestions.
• Comm. Gainer asked about women’s programs in the jail. The Sheriff stated that women make up only 6% of total detainees and that number has not changed much since his tenure as Sheriff. He said that women do show more signs of mental illness than men (55% of total detainees who are female have some symptoms of mental illness, compared to 33% of men).
• Comm. Gainer mentioned STAR (Performance Management Goals) with regards to fee collections during the eviction process. The Sheriff stated that his fee collection numbers are similar to other counties.
• Comm. Schneider asked about the recent fight involving jail stabbings in Division 9 that led to some injuries of detainees and staff. The Sheriff said that he released the video of the incident immediately and that the fight had no serious injuries. This is a very maximum security division with some of the most dangerous detainees in the system. The commissioner complimented him on the timeliness of the video release.
• Comm. Boykin asked about gun violence in general. The Sheriff answered that this a very complex issue with lots of moving parts. Job training is one part and the Sheriff touted his Renew Program that trains detainees in carpentry and demolition skills. This program has helped to demolish or rehab many abandoned structures in the southern suburbs and Maywood. The Sheriff would like to provide opportunities to develop some job skills to all detainees.
• The Commissioner also asked about heroin overdoses. The Sheriff said that all of his officers will soon be trained to administer Naloxone (anti-dote) in such cases.
• Comm. Garcia asked about the problems of detainees on electronic monitoring who have to get to job interviews or other such necessary appointments. There are delays in reaching those in charge of those bracelets in order to “turn off” the mechanism temporarily. The Sheriff promised to look into this issue.
• Comm. Moore also asked about the recent stabbings in Div.9 and about the ERT officers (Emergency Response Team).  The Sheriff admitted to having stressed out officers in this division and to always having ERT staff in place there. He is also expanding this unit. The federal government is constantly evaluating the numbers of staffers in place and the length of their shifts. The Sheriff is also working out ways to keep his staff safe from detainees who like to throw bodily fluids at the CO’s (and some substances that are not so fluid). A 6 foot wall is sometimes used to deliver meals to the most dangerous detainees who use this method to retaliate against some CO’s.

Sheriff Dart concluded his remarks with an offer to all of the commissioners to keep the dialogue open and to reach solutions to these problems together.


Cook County State’s Attorney - presented by Gavin Ambrose, Chief of Staff for SA 
Proposed Budget
FY17 - $21,733,224
FY16 - $21,709,450
Proposed FTEs
FY17 - 1,327 
FY16 - 1,391

Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez did not show up for the State's Attorney budget presentation.  She had sent a written statement prior to the the meeting to all of the Commissioners. Those present (Daley, Boykin, Garicia Silvestri, Sims, Moore, Gainer, Morrison, and Schneider) did not want her statement read aloud by her Chief of Staff, Gavin Ambrose. Instead, Mr. Ambrose and other staffers did their best to answer the questions of the commissioners.

Written Statement: After the meeting I (the observer) was told that I could find the statement online under “Meeting Details”. The statement listed some of the achievements that the SA had completed during her 8 years in office. These included;

1. New state laws aimed at reducing straw purchases of guns (guns bought legally by one person and then resold illegally to another)
2. RICO laws used against gang violence. (anti-racketeering laws).
3. 75% reduction in arrests for misdemeanor drug crimes.
4. An increase from 8 to 30 in the number of alternative courts. (for mental health, and defendants with substance abuse addictions, for example).
5. Addition of a human trafficking prosecution unit.
6. The Conviction Integrity Unit, to fight wrongful convictions.
7. Community based prosecutions which involve solutions generated in neighborhoods.

Questions/Concerns of the Commissioners:

• Comm. Gainer asked about the success of the prostitution courts. Mr. Gavin said that this crime was now treated as a misdemeanor and this has been a success for women who complete the program of treatment. Loyola University is studying this program and analyzing the results. She also asked about the increase in time for disposition of most cases. It was admitted that the time was increased due to less staff.
• Comm. Garcia asked if the loss of investigators led to less prosecutions. Not so, said Mr. Gavin since the investigators are saved for the most violent crimes.
• Comm. Silvestri asked about the lesser amount of drug and property seizures. Mr. Gavin said that the Chicago Police Dept. is in charge of these seizures.
• Comm. Boykin asked about victims’ programs. Mr. Gavin admitted that budget cuts have cut both the witness and the victim programs. The state had some programs to help with this, however.
• Comm. Moore asked about appeals taking longer. A similar answer was given to this question as to the one asked by Comm. Gainer about the time increase for disposition of cases.
• Other questions were asked and answered about the racial breakdown within the staff. Also mentioned briefly was the issue of the slowness of civil cases.

Overall, it would have been better to have heard directly from the State’s Attorney. The answers given were not as in depth as they would have been had she been present.

Observer - Jan Goldberg

Cook County Board Finance Committee - Departmental Budget Hearings 
Day #6 - October 24, 2016 

Amy Campanelli, the Public Defender of Cook County began her testimony with a moving video about some of her most memorable cases along with interviews from some of her staff about the important work that they perform. She stated that her office is: “THE VOICE OF THE VOICELESS”.
Proposed Budget:
FY17 - $76,200,929
FY16 - $64,970,115
Proposed FTEs:
FY17 - 677
FY16 - 698
She is requesting $2 million more than the President’s recommendation because:

1. Her caseload is approximately 350 felonies and 857 misdemeanors per attorney. This is way over the ABA guidelines of 150 felonies and 400 misdemeanors. Other large counties have caps on the amount of cases per attorney, which keeps the numbers down.
2. She needs to hire more investigators and paralegals.
3. She needs to have 4 Spanish interpreters, she currently has only 1 for all of the cases.
4. Investing in proper defense procedures now, saves future costs in potential lawsuits, wrongful convictions, expensive incarceration, and ruined lives that must be repaired.

For further justification for her request she cited these accomplishments of her office:

1. Community Outreach. She  goes to high schools, churches, community centers, law schools to explain the criminal justice system to mainly people at risk. She calls the system the criminal courts system because she feels that “justice” is not always achieved.
2. Training seminars.160 of these took place last year for staff.
3. Mental Health. She meets regularly with HHS  to coordinate treatment for the mentally ill detainees.
4. Juvenile Justice. She has implemented weekend hours for bond court for juveniles. She has secured counsel for juveniles under 15 charged with murder and/or sex related crimes.
5. Bond Court Reform. In her meetings with other stakeholders she has pushed for the use of the Public Safety Assessment Tool to be used in ALL bond courtrooms. In addition she has advocated the elimination of cash bail. People who are flight risks or at risk of reoffending should be held without bond, The rest should be released until their next court date. 
6. Restorative Justice Court will be up and running in the spring of 2017. This type of court involves the community in repairing the lives of both victim and offender.

Questions/Concerns of the Commissioners:

• Comm. Boykin led things off by asking if there was too much plea bargaining and if bond court was broken? Ms. Campanelli answered “Yes” to both questions. But plea bargaining to a lesser crime is preferable to  spending more time in Cook County Jail awaiting trial. On bond court she held out some hope that the new PSA (Public Safety Assessment) tool would be useful and objective. She reiterated her desire to get rid of cash bail.
• Comm. Gainer asked about the caseload numbers and if they reflect those that get dismissed. Ms. Campanelli said that they did reflect all cases. She said that 50% of misdemeanors get dismissed. She wondered why these folks got arrested in the first place. She plans on talking with the new police superintendent of Chicago and the new State’s Attorney to work on more meaningful arrests.She was also asked about having public defenders at all police stations. This is something that Ms.Campanelli is working on. She would like posters with the PD’s phone number in all police stations in the county.
• She was asked about the Multiple Defendant Unit. Ms. Campanelli believes that no attorney should represent 2 clients in the same case. She will testify in front of the  Illinois Supreme Court this spring about this issue. She feels that the potential for conflict of interests is too great.
• Comm. Garcia asked if detainees win their cases more often if they are out on bond before trial. She felt that they had more of a chance to participate in their own defense if they were not in jail.
• Comm. Suffredin told Ms. Campanelli that she should just TELL the commissioners what she needed and not ask. She reiterated her request for $2 million more than the president recommended.

Ms. Campanelli was compelling in her testimony. She made the commissioners feel the importance of her office mission, which is to bring representation to all clients. That is what the 6th Amendment to the US Constitution is all about. 
All commissioners were present except for Comm. Goslin and Comm. Butler.

Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County -  Clerk Dorothy Brown
Proposed Budget
FY17 - $126,104,069
FY16 - $105, 360,894
Proposed FTEs
FY17 - 1633
FY16 - 1685

Clerk Brown stated that most of her monetary increase was due to personnel costs (such as raises and step increases), document scanning, computerization of judge’s orders, E-filing and the relocation of files to the warehouse in Cicero.
Accomplishments Cited:

• E filing. Litigants are now able to electronically file their cases. All appeals will be E-filed starting July of 2017. 21 police districts can electronically write tickets. She is working on CPD.
• Website. She modernized her website so that people can pay fines and fees on it. 
  
• Payment plans. She will soon have in place a system whereby defendants can pay their fines on an installment plan, possibly with checking accountant automatic withdrawals. This can be set up right after a defendant’s fine is imposed in court.
  
• Expungement summits and seminars. All around Cook County these meetings take place whereby wrongfully accused defendants can have their records cleared. Lawyers are on site to help with this work. This is called a summit. The seminar is a meeting in which these summits are explained to the community.Defendants can have their cases dropped, they can be released from jail, but their records still reflects the arrests and in some cases, their convictions.
  
• Case management. Her new system will be fully automated by 2017.

Questions/Comments from Commissioners:

• Comm. Boykin asked a few questions about child support. The Clerk said that these orders come from the state. He also thanked her for the expungement summits and seminars.
• Comm. Steele asked about the Cicero facility and if the Recorder of Deeds can use it as well. The Clerk said that she would reach out to the Recorder to get this done.
  
• Comm. Silverstri asked about postage rates going up. She said that they should go down as soon as all of the documents were delivered to Cicero.  He also asked about internal cases of harassment among her employees. The Clerk said that these might be increasing.
  
• Comm. Gainer asked about the ability of the Clerk’s office to analyze bond cases judge by judge. The Clerk said that this could be done. She spoke of great improvements in bond court due to stakeholders’ meeting regularly.
  
• Comm. Simms asked about the use of carbon paper. The Clerk admitted to the dual use of paper and electronically produced copies.

Clerk Brown ended her comments and invited commissioners to set up Expungement Seminars in their districts.
Commissioners Present: During the first part of her talk only Comm. Tobolski, Boykin, Steele, Sylvester, Morrison, Daley and Garcia were present. Comm. Schnieder, Sufferdin, Sims, Moody, and Gainer trickled in later.

Observer - Jan Goldberg

Cook County Board Finance Committee - Departmental Budget Hearings
Day #5 of Budget Hearings (Part Two) - October 21, 2016

Office of the Treasurer - presented by Maria Pappas, Treasurer
​Proposed Budget: 
FY17 - $12.9 million   
FY16 - $12.2 million 
Proposed FTEs:: 
FY17 - 88.5  
FY16 - 89  (250 in 1998]
Key Information Presented:

• Cost to Cook County taxpayers would be $1.2 million for this office as the office is 90% self-funded with the majority of revenue [$11.8 million] from commercial user fees.
• 73% of the Budget is employee costs and this year for the first time, the budget will absorb $209,000 for fringe benefits.
• Because of electronic automation, within 3 years there will be no filing cabinets in the office of the Treasurer.  And, all work is done out of one central location with nine options for payment.
• The Treasurer’s office gave 3,000 sq. feet of space back to the county and 1,600 sq. feet for use by the company providing the county’s system-wide computer network.
• On average, there are 400,000 visits a month to its website which can be accessed in 103 languages.
• Stopped $272 million in over-payments.  No longer can anyone duplicate pay on the same pin number.  
• Treasurer Pappas recommends that other elected officials consider hiring Librarians to help with developing systems for information flow and retrieval.  She has two in her IT department.
• Treasurer Paper expressed appreciation to the 7 present Commissioners present stating that her department worked very hard on the budget and presentation and more Commissioners should be in the room.  

Commissioners absent: Butler, Moore, Boykin, Arroyo, Moody, Steele, Garcia, Fritchey, Goslin, Silvestri]

Perhaps of greatest interest and concern to the Commissioners is the state legislated system for sale of delinquent taxes.  If the current law stands, taxes delinquent by 4 months after the August due date can be sold.  The home owner has another several months to pay the taxes but the amount due can end up being 2-3 times more than the original tax because of interest, penalties, and court costs -  plus – the tax buyer receives the income from the redemption – not the County.   Treasurer Pappas is strongly against the state law and blames a power lobby for creating it.   The County is currently working on a compromise plan [6 months before being sold].  The constituent group most affected by this is Senior Citizens.

Homeland Security and Emergency Management 
presented by Ernest Brown, Executive Director
Proposed Budget
FY17 -  $1.7 million *                  
FY16 - $2.6 million *
*Cook County Taxpayer funding  - Another $49 million in Federal grants for 2017
Proposed FTEs
FY17-   76   (55 grant funded)
FY16 - 76  (51 grant funded)
Mission:  To enhance the safety and security of Cook County and its residents by working to build capacity and create a common operations platform with our partners to prevent, protect against, mitigate the effects of, respond to and recover from all incidents, whether man-made and/or natural, including educating our residents through our community engagement program.

• Responsibilities include:
  • Administration and grants   [25 FTEs]
  • Information security              [12 FTEs]
  • Operation, planning, logistics, information [33 FTEs]
  • Training and exercises          [6 FTEs]
• 2 new grant funded positions will work on community engagement.
• The office is capable of engaging in 3 full-blown incidents at the same time.
• Conducted 450 deployments of equipment requested by CC municipalities plus provided 6 high volume pumps to save the Menard Prison in Chester, IL from evacuating due to flooding.
• 2017 Strategic Initiatives
  • Implement a Whole Community Approach
  • Promote Cyber Security Awareness
  • Implement an all-encompassing training & exercise portal system
  • Complete the capital build out of the Department’s Response Facilities to include electrical, data, and satellite communications as well as completion of the build out of the mobile response team vehicles and assets

Observer - Diane Edmundson