McLean County Justice Committee met May 5.
Here is the minutes provided by the committee:
The Justice Committee of the McLean County Board met at 4:30 p.m. in Room 404 of the Government Center, 115 E. Washington Street, Bloomington, Illinois.
Members Present: Chairman George Gordon, Members George Wendt, Susan Schafer, Carlo Robustelli, Randall Martin, Jim Soeldner and Lyndsay Bloomfield (All by remote attendance)
Members Absent: None
Other County Board Members Present: None
Staff Present: Ms. Camille Rodriguez, County Administrator, Ms. Cassy Taylor, Assistant County Administrator, Ms. Cathy Dreyer, Assistant County Administrator and Ms. Julie Morlock, Recording Secretary; Ms. Jessica Woods, First Assistant State’s Attorney – Civil Division (via remote attendance)
Department Heads/ Elected Officials Present: Mr. Don Everhart, Circuit Clerk, Mr. Don Knapp, State’s Attorney, Mr. Jon Sandage, Sheriff, Ms. Kathy Yoder (remote attendance)
Others Present:
Chairman Gordon called the meeting to order and declared a quorum. Chairman Gordon presented the minutes of the April 7, 2020 regular meeting for approval.
Motion by Robustelli/Bloomfield to approve the minutes from the April 7, 2020 regular meeting.
Motion Carried.
Chairman Gordon confirmed there were no appearances by members of the public.
Ms. Molly Evans, Children’s Advocacy Center presented for action a request to approve the 2020 Grant Agreement with Illinois Prairie Community Foundation. Ms. Evans indicated it is a new grant for a training program to help identify signs of abuse. She indicated CASA individuals took training before and they would like have individuals from the Children’s Advocacy Center take it as well.
Motion by Soeldner/Robustelli to recommend approval of the 2020 Grant Agreement with Illinois Prairie Community Foundation.
Motion Carried. Chair Voted
Ms. Evans presented her monthly reports to the Committee. Chairman Gordon asked if there were any questions, hearing none, he thanked her.
Chairman Gordon presented Mr. Jon Sandage, McLean County Sheriff’s report and asked if there were any questions. Mr. Robustelli asked him to confirm that before COVID people could go into the Jail, register and video conference with an inmate for free three time a week for 30 minutes and that it was through the same company that offers the off-site calls and now that they are on shut down they can no longer utilize in house video call. Mr. Sandage confirmed. Mr. Robustelli asked him to confirm same system. Mr. Sandage indicated same company, but not sure the same system. Mr. Robustelli asked why allowed 1.5 hours of video calls through technology before for free and now costs. Mr. Sandage compared it to intercom system in your house vs phone calls outside of your house. Mr. Sandage indicated the video visitation system is a luxury, because the Illinois jail standards only requires them to allow inmates one five-minute call a week and the video calls far exceeds that. Mr. Robustelli stated he appreciated that but wanted to understand the technology side of it and wanted to see if we could reach out to the company and see if it the same thing as before could be offered. Mr. Gordon asked if there were any other questions on the regular reports; hearing none, he moved to the next item on the agenda.
Chairman Gordon presented Ms. Kathy Yoder, McLean County Coroner’s reports. Mr. Soeldner asked about revenue from autopsies performed. Ms. Yoder indicated that autopsies are up, but receipts are a little behind, but we received and will be included next month. Chairman Gordon asked if the Committee had any further questions for her, hearing none, he moved to the next item on the agenda.
Mr. Donald Knapp, State’s Attorney presented for action a request for authorization for the State’s Attorney to Offer a Salary in Accordance with Section 108-43 F(2)(b)(3) of the McLean County Code. Chairman Gordon indicated Mr. Knapp had contacted members regarding the information. Mr. Knapp indicated Committee would usually go into closed session for this but that is not as easy with the virtual meeting so talked with each member before the meeting.
Motion by Schafer/Bloomfield to grant authorization for the State’s Attorney to Offer a Salary in Accordance with Section 108-43 F(2)(b)(3) of the McLean County Code.
Motion Carried.
Mr. Knapp presented his reports and indicated that numbers are probably starting to reflect COVID situation. Mr. Soeldner asked about the Asset Forfeiture Fund expense. Mr. Knapp indicated it is a rolling total and they have utilized that to purchase a few laptops for the office during COVID and for training both of which are allowable expenses. Chairman Gordon asked if there were any questions, hearing none, he moved to the next item on the agenda.
Chairman Gordon indicated Mr. Michael Donovan, Director of Court Services was not present, but his reports were in the packet. Chairman Gordon asked if there were any questions, hearing none, he moved to the next item on the agenda.
Chairman Gordon indicated that Mr. Don Everhart, Circuit Clerk’s reports were in the packet and asked if there were any questions; hearing none, he moved to the next item on the agenda.
Chairman Gordon indicated that Ms. Carla Barnes, Public Defender was not present, but her caseload report was in the packet. Chairman Gordon asked if there were any questions; hearing none, he moved to the next item on the agenda.
Ms. Camille Rodriguez, County Administrator provided her report on recent positions filled. Chairman Gordon asked if there were any questions, hearing none he thanked her.
Under other business Chairman Gordon stated there is some concern in community about telephone fees at the jail and wanted to asked the Committee from a budget standpoint regarding telephone fees with inmates in the jail if they wanted the Administrations office to generate some options for the Committee to consider. He stated that the County is receiving more than expected through the contract and those funds come into the general fund. He stated that we do not know how long this will continue and how long current communication modes will continue in the jail. He asked for each member’s opinion.
Mr. Wendt stated if they are considering this excess revenue then it should go back to the Sheriff for their increased costs incurred during COVID. He stated he felt we would need the extra revenue as sales tax will be down and some property taxes will be on hold. Mr. Soeldner said he would be interested in cost analysis, but any loss of that revenue is going to need to be made up somewhere and suspected it would need to be made up by the taxpayers and he would not be in favor of that. Ms. Schafer indicated that Administration is very busy and did not feel this should be added to their workload. She stated there had been other information provided that caused her concern about making any changes. Ms. Schafer indicated this is in the Sheriff’s budget and wondered if that was what Mr. Robustelli was asking about earlier. Mr. Robustelli indicated he was asking about the technology behind the services provided and the costs behind those services and how those costs differ from in- house video and home to jail video conferences. Ms. Schafer agreed with Mr. Soeldner that if we do not receive this revenue from telephone fees, we will have to receive it from another source. Mr. Wendt agreed with Ms. Schafer that Administration is busy with all the other COVID situation matters and unless the Sheriff felt this is something that should be looked at then it should be discussed later.
Mr. Robustelli stated he would be interested to learn more and was not sure this was going to take much time to research this. He stated that this is done through technology so makes sense to him that if we can we should be able to provide the same opportunities inmates would have had before COVID especially since we do not know how long this will last. He stated he was not comfortable profiting from this. He stated that he felt we should be able to provide same service for free that we did before so would like more information.
Ms. Schafer stated that she wanted to point out the Sheriff stated that this is a luxury and even the amount we provided had inside the jail that was free was a luxury and above what they are required to provide. Mr. Martin stated individuals did some to end up in jail and this is a luxury we can’t provide right now. He stated he appreciated what Mr. Robustelli stated about love ones being able to reach individuals in jail, but McLean County is above what other counties do and unfortunately because of COVID we can’t provide that luxury now. Ms. Bloomfield stated that she deferred to the Sheriff and his office’s expertise in this matter and while she supports efforts to prioritize resources at this time, she felt they could review this when it is time to renegotiate the contract. Mr. Gordon stated he felt there was no consensus at this time to ask for additional information from administration.
Mr. Gordon asked if there was other business or communication to come before the Committee. Hearing nothing, he moved to payment of the bills.
Chairman Gordon indicated there were no transfers and presented bills for review and approval as transmitted by the County Auditor with a Prepaid and Fund Total of $609,989.24.
Motion by Robustelli/Martin to approve the Justice Committee bills as transmitted by the County Auditor with a prepaid and fund total of $609,989.24.
Motion Carried.
Chairman Gordon asked if there was any other business or communication for the Justice Committee; hearing none, he adjourned at 5:14 p.m.
https://www.mcleancountyil.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/7323
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