Mid Year Budget Meetings: Public Defender and Clerk of the Court Will Both be Seeking Additional Positions for 2027

Public Defender
July 22, 2028

Public Defender Sharone Mitchell began with a presentation on how his office, workload, and budget compares to others:

• His office has the 2nd largest caseload in the country (only Los Angeles County is higher), but the 5th largest budget (below that of the counties of Los Angeles, Maricopa, San Diego, and Orange).
• Rand is conducting a study of the office and the current workload suggests the need for 646 attorneys, suggesting a shortfall of 303.  And this is just for adult criminal cases.  The office also handles other work, including for juveniles.
• Mr. Mitchell said that there has been an explosion of digital discovery (mainly video) that is also adding significantly to the workload.
• Mr. Mitchell said that they could not immediately hire and onboard the number of additional people needed now, so he is working on a plan to hire a smaller number of people each year over the coming years.
• Current vacancies after the recent hiring are between 20 and 30.  The Public Defender’s office is assuming responsibility for hiring from the County’s Human Relations Bureau which Mr. Mitchell believes will improve the speed of hiring.
• Mr. Mitchell described 2 units in the office: (1) a Police Accountability Unit that has a hotline for people to identify rogue police; and (2) an Immigration Division which has to turn down cases.  One of the complications for this Division is that the people they represent are generally picked up here by Federal agents, but then moved to other jurisdictions.

Responses to Commissioner Questions:

• (Scott) Thanks to the Commissioners, the laptops used are now on a 3-year cycle.  The current case management system dates to 2026 and the office is working now to identify and bring on a new system.
• (Degnen) Because ICE has been picking people up near the courthouses, the public defenders are pursuing remote appearances for their clients and witnesses.  Some judges are amenable, others are not, the Mr. Mitchell said the Chief Judge is supportive. However, sometimes the Assistant State’s Attorney objects.
• (Degnen) The office is in active litigation with the Chicago Police Department over a consent decree to make sure people know that they are entitled to 3 phone calls.  Posters are being put up which outlines this and provides the phone number of the Public Defender’s office.
• (Degnen) So far, Mr. Mitchell is pleased with the two “Freedom Centers” in Austin and Roseland that are centers that include other services (such as employment and social services) as well as an office for the Public Defender.  However, before expanding this concept, he wants more time to make sure the model is ready for that.
• (Anaya) The office currently has 65 people who are certified as bi-lingual and thus receive a monthly bonus pursuant to the County’s plan.  The office also has digital translation devices.
• (McCaskill) The office does use local colleges to recruit interns, and this summer it has almost 200.  These interns are actually learning what it means to be public defender and are not “making coffee and making copies.”
• (Vasquez) Mr. Mitchell explained the grant the office received which is to make people with different disabilities to be comfortable in dealing with the court system.  The money is for training and equipment and listening sessions to identify how interactions with the police and courts can be improved.
• (Lowry) Comm. Lowry suggested that the office create a strategic plan for their personnel needs.  Mr. Mitchell says that the Rand ongoing study will help with this.

Clerk of the Court
July 22, 2026

Clerk of the Court Mariyana Spyropoulos was happy to report that her office currently has just 24 vacancies out of over 1300 positions.  The office has been working diligently to fill positions over this past year.  She said her office has been working to rebuild trust and expand transparency.  She mentioned a few challenges:

• Under the Illinois Clean Slate legislation, her office will be tasked to clear records of past convictions for a number of people without them having to go to court.  This will increase the workload considerably, and she will be seeking an increase in staff under the 2027 budget.
• Her office is trying to provide the Chicago-Cook County Violence against Women Task Force the data being requested.  However, often what is wanted is a subset of the data being collected, which entails staff time to sort through what is available.
• Her office received 700 requests for information, and she would like to have 3 to 5 people dedicated to filling those requests.  Currently, all employees involved in responding have other duties, which have to be dropped, but also means it takes longer than desired to provide the information.

Responses to Commissioner questions:

• (Lowry) The office uses the Taleo system for the hiring process.  Recently, they had 1,000 applications for 1 entry-level position.  While the system keeps track of those, people have to go through the applications to determine which ones appear to have the minimum requirements of the job, and then which ones also meet some of the preferred skills/experience.  Then those applicants have to be ranked and then interviewed.  She would like to find a way to streamline or automate part of the process.
• (Lowry) The Clerk of the Court is proposing a “depository system” whereby people could deposit items such as wills and related preferences. 
• (Lowry & Vasquez) The office is trying to come up with a process to get orders of detention and release over to the Sheriff’s office on a more timely basis on days when there is a heavy case call.  The Clerk is looking at possibly scanning the orders and sending them digitally, but this has to be done while handling the case call.
• (Degnen) The Clerk of the Court has implemented E-tickets with almost all Suburban police forces.  Chicago is the last and the Police Department is working with the Office to develop a pilot.

Observer:  Priscilla Mims