Category: Criminal Justice

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 Approves Homeland Security Department Name Change

11/16/2019

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Cook County Board of Commissioners Committee Meetings - Oct. 23, 2019
Board Meeting - October 24, 2019

The Cook County Board quickly passed an ordinance creating a name change for CC’s Homeland Security Department. The new name is: Department of Emergency Management and Regional Security. The renaming occurred after a CC Homeland Security vehicle created alarm among attendees at an Evanston street fair because they did not differentiate between the Cook County and the US Immigration Homeland Security vehicle signage and therefore were concerned that US ICE Agents were there to round up people with potential immigration issues.

Other Agenda items Passed:

19-5620, Ordinance requiring ballots to be printed in additional languages in time for the 2020 elections. Requires the County Clerk to determine by March 1, 2020, and at least every 3 years thereafter, limited-English-proficient populations of 13,000 or more Cook County residents and then produce special language ballots.
19-5845, The creation of the “Assessor GIS Fund” with language stating that the revenue collected for the Assessor by other County offices from providing GIS data shall go into this new fund. The County Board retains appropriation authority.
19-6117, The renewal of a Springfield lobbying contract. Commissioner Lowery asked for the lobbyist to come to a board meeting or hearing. Commissioner Suffredin responded that a meeting will be scheduled after the IL General Assembly veto session is over.
19-6389, The Human Relations Committee requested a hearing to discuss the final report from the CC Committee on addressing bias, equity, and cultural competency.
19-5830, A review of County policies as well as holding and incarceration practices in light of the recommendations from the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Global Study on children who are confined, jailed, and/or jailed in adult facilities.

Items Referred to Committee:

To Business & Economic Development Committee:

19-6176, Requesting approval to enter into an Interagency Agreement to provide funding to launch and operationalize the Southland Development Authority for large scale and long term economic development in the South Suburbs. Initial amount of $300,000 used to hire an Executive Director for the SDA and based on the SDA’s ability to secure additional material funding.
19-5333, Resolution to establish an enterprise zone in a 15 contiguous square miles of a depressed area including the City of Chicago Heights and several more. Intergovernmental agreements will be required.
19-5632, The Bureau of Economic Development recommends the investment of $4 million in Community Development Block Grant Section 108 funds for low interest financing to support the long term redevelopment of two Housing Authority of Cook County (HACC) high rise properties with 226 units of affordable senior housing in the Village of Wheeling and the City of Niles.

To Legislative & Intergovernmental Affairs Committee:

19-6194, Amendment to the Ethics Ordinance that adds calendars, vehicles, and equipment to the list of items that may not have a name or image of an elected official paid for with public funds during an election year if that official is running for re-election.
19-5979, the proposed ordinance to dissolve the Injury Compensation Committee and Advisory Board as it is no longer needed. Appears to be an effort to clean up the Code to eliminate provisions that are no longer relevant.
19-6158, the 3rd quarter report from the Recorders office on its consolidation with the Clerk’s office. Commissioner Suffredin stated that a hearing will be scheduled.

To Rules Committee:

19-4770, Another Just Housing Amendment to a previously passed ordinance defining “demonstrable risk” and requiring landlords to rent to individuals with criminal records after a 5 year period of time with a clean record [sex offenders are not eligible]. Because landlords are very unhappy with the original ordinance, Commissioners continue to work on compromises.

Other Items of Interest:

Although approved without discussion, four public speakers attended the board meeting and asked the commissioners not to appoint Alderman, George Cardenas, to the Environment Committee. Mr. Cardenas was selected by Mayor Lightfoot to represent the City.
The States Attorney’s office received multiple grants from the US Department of Justice to add staff for specific purposes including investigating cold cases older than 3 years; hiring an intellectual property crime attorney and clerk; and increased trauma support for sexual assault victims.
The Justice Advisory Council received a 4 year $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Justice to create a regional coordinated system for returning citizens to receive the appropriate pre and post release (from prison) services. Goal: to reduce recidivism. #19-6162

Observed by: Diane Edmundson

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Equipment Upgrades Approved for Cook County Sheriff’s Department

9/11/2019

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Cook County Board of Commissioners Meeting - September 5, 2019

Board Actions:

A Request to enter into and execute a contract with Axon Enterprise, Scottsdale, AZ Axon Enterprise provides law enforcement grade weapons and tech services. The contract is for 5 yr, 9/12/2019 - 9/11/2024. Explanations were provided for the Commissioners’ many questions. It was explained that this contract will provide upgrades and expansion of the existing body worn cameras and TASER weapons inventory that are needed to supply more Cook County Sheriff Department Officers with equipment. Axon is the only company that sells law-enforcement grade weapons which are sold strictly to law enforcement agencies. The TASER will activate their body worn camera; it is the only weapon that will activate the camera. The cloud storage system is unique to Axon. The cameras’ recordings will be sharable with the Public Defender’s Office. The contract was approved. (Agenda Item 19-5076)

The Fair Transit of South Cook County Pilot Study was referred to the Transportation Committee for a more detailed presentation. Commissioner Miller stated that the Public Meeting in the South Suburbs was well attended. Supt. Yonan explained that this 3 year Pilot Program is ready for implementation. The program has several goals, including modest service improvement and improved coordination with PACE, Metra, and CTA. Another benefit of the program should be facilitating access to employment. Yonan explained that Year 1 is the implementation phase. Years 2 & 3 are to evaluate the impact of improvements. (Agenda Item 19-4276)

Criminal Justice Committee - Charitable Bond Fund Commissioner Suffredin reported that the Criminal Justice Committee is waiting for responses from the State’s Attorney’s Office and from the County Clerk regarding questions of implementation of this program. The Committee will return with a completed proposal at the next meeting.

Observer - C. Cosentino Meeting Length - 2 hr. 25 min

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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

Cook County Board Approves Homeland Security Department Name Change

Equipment Upgrades Approved for Cook County Sheriff’s Department

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