Midyear Budget Hearings Continue with Cook County State's Attorney Presentation

Cook County Board of Commissioners Finance Committee
Mid-Year Budget Hearings - July 28, 2020

State’s Attorney 

​General Information
Revenues - Revenue was $238,000; that is down $178,667 which is a 42.3% variance.  
Expenses - Actual expenses were $59,343,256 which is variance of 4.3% ($2.7 Million)
Holdback Target - Holdback target achieved 

Other information of interest:

• State’s Attorney’s Office (SAO) fees consist entirely of certain fees for felony and misdemeanor convictions in the Circuit Court and imposed by judges.  Revenue has historically begun to decrease. The trend points to a continued decline; court closures due to Covid19 has exacerbated the decline.
• Most hiring for attorneys occurs after the July bar exam so vacancies are carried in the first half of a fiscal year which represent the variance. Prior to mandated FY2020 appropriation reduction due to Covid19, the office rescinded 43 attorney offers that were tentatively planned to occur between Aug-Sept., and negotiated 75 delayed hiring of vacant positions to meet target reductions due to Covid19. Less expenditure payment requests associated with case activity, supplies, operations and delayed maintenance has resulted in decreased expenses until normal operations resume.
• The SAO Case Management System is in the review stage; expectation is that the proposal will come before the Board in FY2020.
• Holdback target was met by delayed hiring on open positions, non-personnel reductions, and estimated savings from furloughs. 
• SAO piloted Paperless Digital First project during the office closures; Its success has resulted in rolling out the approach to the entire criminal and special protection bureaus so that information can move throughout the supply and information chain without paper and those underlying costs.

Observer - Carolyn Cosentino