Category: Criminal Justice

Cook County Board Discusses Diversity, Covid Vaccinations, Gun Violence and Juvenile Justice

4/18/2021

Cook County Board of Commissioners Meeting via Zoom
April 15, 2021
Attendance: all 17 commissioners were present. Meeting led by President Preckwinkle

Items of Interest Sent to Committee:

Agenda Item 21-2634: This item involves the speeding up of payments to contractors, especially minority and women owned business enterprises. The goal is for these businesses to receive payment within 30 days. Electronic means will be utilized to aid in the process. Many Commissioners asked to be Co-Sponsors. This was sent to the Finance Committee.
Agenda Item 21-2662: Declaration of Gun Violence as a Public Health Crisis. This topic took up much discussion as statistics were explored (3893 shootings in 2020 as compared to 2536 in 2019, for example.) The cost of treating gun shot victims is between $30 and $40 million. Many Commissioners asked to be Co-Sponsors of this. It was referred to the Health and Hospital Committee.
Agenda Item 21-2427: The requirement for progress reports on the Recorder of Deeds office as it is now under the Office of the Clerk. This item was referred to the Legislation and Intergovernmental Relations Committee without discussion.

Board Action:

Agenda Item 21-2133: Reappointment of Hedy Ratner to the head of the Human Rights Commission. Many Commissioners spoke out in favor of Ms. Ratner as many knew her and worked with her for many years on women’s issues. She is credited with much progress in the areas of reproductive rights and economic progress. Her tireless efforts have led to many county contracts with MBE and WBE (minority and women business enterprises). She was called “a treasure of the 3rd district”.
Agenda Item 21-2516- Cook County’s Disaster Proclamation was extended until May 31st. The same 2 Commissioners voted “No” (Degnan and Sean Morrison) but no reasons were given this month. The vote was 15-2.
Agenda Item 21-2309 The Juvenile Temporary Detention Center (JTDC) has an advisory board that wrote a report with recommendations for the JTDC. Much of the report centered around solitary confinement. The report was received and filed with the CC Board. A spokesperson for Chief Judge Evans, Jim Anderson. announced the formation of a committee to study these recommendations. The Chicago Tribune reported on this committee in a short article the next day. It stated that Commissioner Suffredin would be on this committee along with former Commissioner Richard Boykin, among others.
Agenda Item 21-2658- This resolution was passed to address violence against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. Many commissioners asked to be added as co-sponsors as statistics were discussed on the increasing number of incidents of violence and harassment against these groups.
Agenda Item 21-1369 The Performance Review Report was received and filed. There was no discussion.
Agenda Item 21-2378- This proposed grant award for mass Covid-19 vaccinations in Cook County was accepted with much fanfare. President Preckwinkle announced that the 2 days prior to the meeting (April 13th and 14th) saw record daily numbers of people receiving doses through CCH (about 14,000 each day) She also announced the 500,000th dose had just been achieved by CCH facilities. She also announced a brand new facility opening in Matteson.
Agenda Item 21-1963- Peter Creticos’ firm was given a contract to work on the redistricting of Cook County Commissioners’ districts. President Preckwinkle thanked Commissioner Sims for leading the committee on this task, which she called “a thankless job”.
Agenda Item 21-1218 The resolution condemning the Acts of Domestic Terrorism at the capitol on Jan.6,2021 received much support, much discussion, and an abundance of gratitude to Commissioner Johnson for bringing this to the board. Many Commissioners asked to be added as co-sponsors. Commissioner Deer quoted the preamble to the US Constitution about “insuring domestic tranquility” and added that there was none on that day.
Agenda Item 21-2125- Sheila Chalmers-Curran, the Mayor of Matteson was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Cook County Land Bank Authority.
Agenda Item 21-2677- Modifications were made to the Land Bank Authority Ordinance including a change that will allow the Cook County President to appoint the Executive Director with approval of the Board of Directors of the Land Bank..

Recognized on the Consent Agenda were 2 individuals who have impacted Criminal Justice within Cook County.

Amy Campanelli, the head of the Public Defenders office was given a great deal of thanks by many Commissioners and the President for her work. She just stepped down as her term was up and Sharone Mitchell was chosen to succeed her.
Pam Rodriguez, the head of TASC (Treatment Alternatives for Safe Communities), has retired.

Observer - Jan Goldberg Meeting Duration: 10am until 1:30 PM

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Cook County Board Committee Meetings

1/28/2021

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Cook County Board of Commissioners
Committee Meetings - Wed. Jan. 27, 2021

Finance Committee – 9:30 am

Agenda Item 21-0694: Monthly report from CCH. Comptroller Lawrence reported a $259 million net favorable balance. This was due in part to receipt of 2 large settlements being received. Details of settlements are not discussed. It was stated that the financial status is important for maintaining ratings from rating agencies and interest of investment groups. Regarding impact of Covid 19 expenditures, if current federal proposal for aid to states and local governments has a similar formula to that used in Spring 2020, $500 million is expected.
Agenda Item 21-5660: (Moore) Proposal to substitute and to amend the Small Procurement Ordinance (20-5660). This changes the exemption from competitive bid process for procurements of same or similar goods or services from same vendor in same fiscal year to less than $15,000. This was a reduction from the amount specified in 20-5660. Approved. 16 Aye. 1 Absent/excused

Legislation & Intergovernmental Relations Committee – 11:00

Agenda Item 21-0495: This is the item as stated in the Agenda. Second substitute for 20-0495. Resolution calling on Federal government to implement policies to protect immigrant community and strengthen the immigration system in the US. Com. Anaya stated her office received an expression of support on this from the Consulate of Mexico. Com. Miller asked that the African diaspora be included and efforts be made to expand those conversations. Com. Anaya responded that inclusion of many groups is continuing in conversations on immigration. Resolution approved. 16 Aye. 1 Absent/Excused

Criminal Justice Committee – 12:30

Agenda Item 20-5479: A hearing on the detainees in Cook County Jail, focusing on those there for 5 years or longer awaiting trial. Representatives from Chief Judge, Sheriff, State’s Attorney, Clerk of the Court, Public Defender, and Director of Cermak Health Services were expected. This discussion started at 12:30 and was still continuing at 3:30. This observer concluded at 2:30.
Tanya Woods, Westside Justice Center, spoke regarding concerns on access to vaccines for those incarcerated, intensified needs for mental health services in black/brown communities, access to speedy trials, and ripple effects on families when a member is incarcerated.
Dr. David Olson, Loyola University, spoke specifically to time of detention in Cook County Jail, based on research conducted regarding incarceration of people for 5 years or more. Since Bond Court reform in Cook County, it is people accused of the most serious felony offenses involving violent offenses who are incarcerated longest. Better data is needed to compare Cook County to the rest of the state. He stated Illinois Dept. of Corrections lacks good data overall. For murder, 4.7 yr is the average detention for pretrial incarceration in Cook County; for IL, the average is 2.7 years pretrial. Dr. Young stated that the trend is longer time in Cook County system compared to IL. Time served in Cook County is would reduce time served, after sentencing, in state prison. Many commissioners had questions for Dr. Young which can be viewed on the recording.
Sarah Stout, Sr Policy Analyst for Appleseed gave public testimony, regarding short term and long term problems. One current issue that Covid19 closings have slowed resolution of cases. Early on, arrests were low but that is no longer the case. There is a need for a centralized docket to help catch up on cases and for updating technology for the exchange of documents.
Chief Judge T. Evans stated that the data complied recently by his staff showed 135 cases for people incarcerated for 5 or more years; that those were for murder, attempted murder, class X felonies. He stated 8 reasons for those cases still pending: 1-delays in discovery process 2-motions to withdraw as attorneys 3-attorneys have schedule conflicts 4-defendant represents self 5-defendant faces multiple charges which must be tried separately, 6-demand for jury trial, 7-post conviction appeal status 8-behavioral clinical exam indicates individual unfit for trial. Commissioners engaged with Judge Evans on many questions, including data discrepancies, plans to reopen courts, and complications of reopening due to Covid 19. There were additional presentations and discussion.

Carolyn Cosentino - Observer

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Cook County Board Passes “Justice for Black Lives” Resolution

8/2/2020

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Cook County Commissioners - Board and Committee Meetings
July 27, 29 and 30, 2020

Key items passed by the Board:

“Justice for Black Lives” Resolution. The substitute non-binding resolution calls on monies for policing and incarceration to be redirected to public services, not administered by law enforcement, which will promote community health and public safety, particularly in Black and Brown communities most impacted by violence and incarceration. Such services to include housing, health care, mental health, restorative justice, job creation, public transport, eviction/foreclosure, and increasing opportunities for Minority-owned and Women-owned business enterprises. Passed with 15 votes; Commissioner Aguilar voted present and Commissioner Sean Morrison voted no, both expressing concern with the idea that the resolution calls for defunding the police. Commissioners voting in favor say that this lays out priorities for reducing crime and promoting opportunities through these other means. The upcoming 2021 budget (which will be considered in October and November) will offer the first opportunity for the Commissioners to start to carry out the resolution. (Agenda Item 20-2867)
Resolution to utilize $82 million of money County received under the CARES Act to aid economic recovery from COVID-19. (Agenda Item 20-3229) See the Observer Report for the Special Board Meeting on July 16 for details of the distribution.

Other Items of Interest Discussed in Committees:
Finance Committee:

County’s Use of CARES Act funds: CFO Ammar Rizki reported that the $429 million has been allocated for (1) County’s operational costs (46%), (2) County’s direct costs incurred (23%), (3) spurs for economic development across the County (19%, the Resolution described above), and (4) $51 M for eligible costs incurred by suburban municipalities (12%, as described in the Observer Report for the July 16 Special Board Meeting). New guidance comes out regularly from the U.S. Treasury as to how these monies can be spent. Mr. Rizki said that with $300 M in lost revenues to the County, it is critical that now County can use the CARES money to cover some salary and benefit costs. However, Mr. Rizki said that CARES Act money can only be used to cover hazard pay for those employees directly dealing with COVID positive people (health care workers and correctional officers in the Jail). So hazard pay provided to other people will not be covered, based on current information. Mr. Rizki stressed that with many people predicting a spike in COVID cases in the fall, the County needs to conserve some of these funds to cover future costs.
To date, 439 staff members have tested positive for COVID-19.
So far, no monies have been allocated to township governments, which have other options.
Mr. Rizki receives a weekly report of which municipalities have requested monies under the $51 M allocation by the County and will share with the Commissioners so they can make sure municipalities in their districts are applying for that money.
Cook County Health has received $59 million of CARES Act funding in May in addition to the above as a health care provider.

Audit Committee:

Clean audits received for both the County as a whole and Cook County Health (“CCH”) for fiscal year 2019. County has a Fund Balance that would cover 2 months of expenses, which is considered what is necessary. (Agenda Items 20-2685, 2687)
Auditor stated that CCH’s receivables tend to be risky, but thinks there are sufficient reserves to cover delinquencies. Liabilities include $477 M of claims to County Care for outside (“foreign”) providers, $236M which are identified and the rest based on management estimates of what claims will be submitted after the fiscal year for care provided during the fiscal year. Comm. Miller asked for breakdown of these “foreign” claims so they will know where people are going for care outside of CCH’s facilities. Comm. Morrison wants to know dollar amount not collected due to mistakes; this goes beyond scope of this audit. Andrea Gibson, CCH interim chief business officer, will be setting up meetings with the Commissioners. She said that CCH is now catching out-of-network people and so not providing service under County Care. Also, CCH is making sure getting pre-authorizations required by other insurers.
Clean audit for Clerk of the Circuit Court, except that fees not disbursed in timely manner as required under Illinois Clerks of the Courts Act. (Agenda Item 20-2653)

Legislation & Intergovernmental Relations Committee:

Review of the Final Recommended Plan for consolidating the Recorder of Deeds functions into the Office of the County Clerk. Estimated cost savings during 2021 is $1.1 M, and annual savings thereafter over next 3 years estimated at $6 M. Expect reductions in positions down to 79 for recorder’s work due to streamlining and broadening of work done by an employee. Savings also due to moving Clerk’s Vital Records area from Daley Center pedway to Recorder’s office on main floor and moving Clerk’s offices on 14th floor of 69 W. Washington to Recorder’s administrative offices in County building. (Agenda Item 20-2745) Next review by Commissioners of this consolidation will be in the proposed budget submitted in October.

Items to watch for at next Committee meetings, likely during the week of Sept. 21:

Agenda Item 20-3562: Proposed “Residential Tenant & Landlord Ordinance,” which was referred to the Finance Committee. Co-sponsor Britton said that this is modeled on the Chicago and Evanston ordinances. Would spell out tenant and landlord rights and obligations.
Agenda Item 20-3482: Proposed resolution requesting hearings every month of the Criminal Justice Committee with the Sheriff and senior staff to discuss the operation of the Jail and Police Department (responsible for unincorporated areas plus some suburban towns under inter-government agreements). Referred to Criminal Justice Committee.
Agenda Item 20-3435: Proposed resolution supporting the Illinois NAACP State Conference and Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police Ten Shared Principles. Referred to Law Enforcement Committee.
Commissioners Deer and Moore each submitted separate proposals to add Juneteenth as a County holiday, which were withdrawn. The Commissioners said they would work to add this holiday without putting an added expense to the budget.

Note: The Cook County Board and most of the Board Committees are not scheduled to meet again until week of Sept. 21, though Commissioner Suffredin wanted the public to know that everyone is still working and Commissioners continue meeting virtually in small groups (so as not to violate the Open Meetings Act) each Sunday with key County personnel.

Observer - Priscilla Mims

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Midyear Budget Hearings Continue

8/1/2020

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Cook County Board of Commissioners' Finance Committee
Midyear Budget Hearings - July 22, 2020

Public Defender
General information available from report online:

Actual operating expenses as of 5/31/2020 $36,254 530. This was a 2% variance. FY2020 YTD Budget was $37, 254,530.
Holdback target of $5,094, 821 was not yet met. Amount achieved was $3, 020,947 which were line items. $2 million in COVID-19 related expenses are expected to be reimbursed through CARES Act. Office currently has 35-40 vacancies holding off on hiring until year end unless critical. 43 attorney office hires were rescinded for Aug-Sept. Hiring has been impacted by COVID-19 related issues.

Other information of interest

Closure of cases has been impacted by court closures for 2 1/2 months and has impacted fee collection. Revenue began to decrease in FY 2019. No corrective action at this time; dependent on return to normal conditions.
Case Management Evaluation system will be proposed for Board approval in 2020.
Preliminary forecast for 2021 is that the office would not be able to meet budget targets. A $9 million reduction for FY 2021 would result in a reduction of over 100 employees. Anticipating both backlog of cases due to COVD-19 and uptick in violence this summer, the results would be a high volume of cases of all types. In addition to lawyers, outreach workers, social workers, and paralegals are needed.
Reduction in funding would eliminate resources to defend clients; assigning clients fo private attorneys would be more costly, perhaps as much as $6 million. Over-burden of case can likely lead to lawsuits.
Implementation of Mental Health Resource Unit is in progress. Currently one psychologist has been hired and been reviewing cases since and establishing relationships with community organizations and stakeholders. 31 referrals have been accepted by this one staff member.
Police Station Representation Unit (PSRU) continues to build awareness through outreach and networking with community partners. The goal for FY 2020 was to double police station visits to over 2,000 to maximize calls for counsel to represent people in custody. Due to the impact of COVID however, calls and virtual visits have declined and the goal will not be met. 18% of those provided counsel at the station house were not charged with any offense, demonstrating the effectiveness of the unit.
Plans to provide improved service to clients, including those in its conflict division and non-citizens who are best served by lawyers specializing in immigration law were presented. Implementation is dependent on having the necessary resources as demands on this office increase.

Observer - Carolyn Cosentino

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Cook County Board Meeting Begins With 90 Minutes Of Public Testimony

4/29/2020

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Cook County Board of Commissioners Meeting - April 23, 2020

Because of State COVID-19 guidelines restricting larger meetings, the Board held its April meeting via a virtual media platform. Public Speakers were allowed to submit up to three-minute comments which were read by the Secretary of the Board. Of the 36 comments submitted, 23 dealt with the issue of COVID-19 safety within the Jail and Juvenile Detention Center. Another 7, primarily from suburban mayors and first responders, were supporting the sharing of addresses of COVID-19 residents. Public Comments accounted for 90 minutes of the 3½ hour meeting.

Board Decisions

The first action of the board was to waive the meeting rules to allow resolutions to be approved without going to committee.
Agenda Item #20-2363. Amendment to the Rules of Organization & Procedure to allow for remote meetings during the duration of the Governor’s order pertaining to COVID-19 - approved.
Agenda Item #20-2364. Allowed for the calendar to be changed to provide for remote meetings.
Agenda Item #20-2075. Unanimous appointment of Mr. Otis L Story, Sr. to the Cook County Health Board. Mr. Story was hired in February of 2020 as a deputy chief of staff to President Preckwinkle and will serve as her representative on the Cook County Health Board. He is known as a turnaround expert and previously served as Chief Executive Officer of East Orange General Hospital in New Jersey.
Agenda Item #20-1578. Request by the William Everett Group to increase its $1 million 2020 Census contract by an additional $125,000 was approved. The contract calls for the management and oversight of grants to agencies doing census outreach. Four commissioners expressed “little faith” in the contractor to execute its responsibilities based on performance to date. Another three voted present. Commissioner Sims voted yes stating that it is too late to start over, and asked the responsible parties to work out the issues.

Referred to Committee

Agenda Item #20-2389. Referred to the Criminal Justice Committee. It called for representatives from the Chief Judge’s office, Cermak Health, and the Sheriff’s office to report at this meeting on the status of protective measures in the CC Criminal Justice System during COVID-19. No discussion occurred and no reason was given for the delay.
Agenda Item #20-2378. Proposed by Commissioner Britton, 14th District, and referred to the Health & Hospital Committee. It called for the County Health Department to share the addresses of people who are known to have tested positive for COVID-19. Britton requested the resolution be sent to committee in part because of a lawsuit filed April 20 by the Northwest Central Dispatch System seeking a judge’s order to require the county to provide the names and addresses. He also wants more time to analyze the issue and address commissioners’ questions. Several commissioners expressed civil liberty and immigration concerns.

Other items of Interest

Agenda Item #20-1114. The Quarterly Report from the Department of Public Health was accepted and filed. Commissioner Deer said it included the status of several projects including eight that have been completed. He mentioned a new project directed at long-term care facilities including more coordination and focus on health and safety issues.
Commissioner Gainer asked to have more discussion at the May meeting on COVID-19 back to work guidelines.
All Commissioners were in attendance, and Mr. Frank Aguilar was welcomed as the new Commissioner for the 16th District replacing Jeffrey Tobolski who resigned effective March 31, 2020.

Observed by: Diane Edmundson

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Cook County Budget Hearings End with Review of the Capital Budget and Review of Chief Judge's Budget

11/23/2019

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Cook County Board of Commissioners Finance Committee
Last Day of Departmental Budget Hearings
Public Hearing, Review of The Capital Budget and the Chief Judge’s Budget
November 4, 2019

Public Hearing on 2020 Executive Budget: There were about 20 speakers over a 2-hour period. The main subjects were

Concerns about the plan for transitioning patients receiving mental health services from outside entities to those services being provided by Cook County Health (“CCH”) directly. Commissioner Deere pledged to set up a meeting between these speakers and CCH personnel so the transition plans could be discussed.
Concerns about the elimination of funding for Access to Care, which provides health services at discounted rates to patients primarily in suburban Cook County. The representative for Access to Care stated that about half of the patients seen are not eligible for CCH’s County Care program for those on Medicaid. As a result, if these patients went to CCH, rather than Access to Care, this would add to the already large and growing amount of charity care provided by CCH. Commissioner Sean Morrison said he has long supported helping to fund Access to Care because that funding is much less than the costs CCH would incur to provide the services. Commissioners Sims and Suffredin appeared supportive of again funding Access to Care, but warned that this would likely be the last time.
Support by several entities and individuals for CCH and the services it provides and the partnerships it has.

The Civic Federation has done an analysis of the proposed budget and overall supports it as a reasonable one-year plan. https://www.civicfed.org/CookCountyFY2020. However, there are concerns for the future; specifically:

The growth in uncompensated care at CCH, even as the Civic Federation supports the independent board and says it has had a transformative effect on CCH.
The plan to build a new Provident Hospital with inpatient care. The Civic Federation says there has been little public discussion of this major decision.
The need for more transparency by making the capital plans available, such as for the jail, and Phase I of the court utilization study.
The need for statutory authorization for the supplemental pension payments the County has been making, which the Civic Federation fully supports.

Review of Capital Budget:

Several Commissioners, possibly prompted by the Civic Federation’s comments, asked questions about the justification for $50 million for building the new Provident Hospital. The CCH Chief Financial Officer stated that the costs of operating the current facility are very high and the analysis showed that it was more efficient to build a new facility that could provide needed specialized and outpatient care than to try to rehab the current building.
There is some funding to start the process of redesigning the Board and Commissioner spaces, including making them much more accessible. Commissioner Anaya pointed out that a prior study on accessibility had been done and suggested that be looked at as a starting point.
Commissioner Suffredin asked what happens to the County’s share of the State Motor Fuel Tax fund should DuPage reach 1 million residents. In that case, the two counties would split the fund, thereby significantly decreasing the amount the County currently receives. The Commissioner suggested that there may be a need to seek new legislation in Springfield to revise the formula for disbursing money from the fund.
During the discussion of the Capital Equipment portion, Tom Lynch, the County’s Chief Information Officer, stated that currently there are good relationships between the Bureau of Technology and the IT functions under the other elected officials, a much needed improvement as compared to the past.

Review of the Budget for the Chief Judge:
Chief Judge Timothy Evans answered questions for the different areas under his supervision, including the Adult Probation Department (which encompasses pre-trial services such as electronic monitoring, as well as supervising some sentenced offenders), the Judiciary, the Public Guardian, Forensic Services, Social Services, Juvenile Probation, and the Juvenile Temporary Detention Center (for those awaiting trial). The Chief Judge pointed to his web site, www.cookcountycourt.org where performance metrics and other data may be found.

The Chief Judge cited the large drop in the Cook County jail population as a result of the bail reform measures he has instituted. He also pointed out that the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts is now providing an additional $24 million to reimburse Cook County for the costs of the court system. This money is going into the County’s General Fund and is not earmarked for the Chief Judge’s budget. He is seeking more money than is currently proposed in the budget so that another 100 law clerks could be hired. There are currently 92 clerks for over 400 judges.
In a letter dated Oct. 3, the Sheriff proposed that the Chief Judge’s Probation Department take over the electronic monitoring that the Sheriff is now doing and merge it into the electronic monitoring the Adult Probation Department is doing. The Sheriff has offered to transfer positions and money from his budget to accomplish this. The Chief Judge says that there are a number of issues that must be dealt with first, including obtaining approval from the Illinois Supreme Court. When pressed by Commissioners, he said that it likely would take longer than 6 months to determine whether merging the electronic monitoring programs was feasible and then to effectuate such a merger.
Leonard Dixon, the head of the Juvenile Temporary Detention Center, said that the N.E. Casey Foundation has recently assessed the Center for the 3rd time and says that it is in the best shape the Foundation has ever seen. The average population is down to about 200, but these are the young people that need the most services. There are over 200 community programs that come into the Center.

Observed by Priscilla Mims

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Cook County Board Discusses Diversity, Covid Vaccinations, Gun Violence and Juvenile Justice

Cook County Board Committee Meetings

Cook County Board Passes “Justice for Black Lives” Resolution

Midyear Budget Hearings Continue

Cook County Board Meeting Begins With 90 Minutes Of Public Testimony

Cook County Budget Hearings End with Review of the Capital Budget and Review of Chief Judge's Budget

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