Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Departmental Review Meetings for 2014 CC Proposed Budget: Monday, Oct. 28



Public  Hearing, State's Attorney's Office

The meeting began with a Public Hearing on the budget. There were 26 public speakers. First was Lawrence Msall of the Civic Federation and he stated that his organization's analysis of the proposed budget is available on their website at www.civicfederation.org. He raised at least 2 concerns – one being the uncertainty of the Medicaid revenue within the HHS budget, and the other being a needed long term plan for dealing with the pension issue which soon will be critical. Karin Hribar, LWVCC Co-President, gave testimony commending the board for improving the budget process in line with recommendations that the League has provided over the past several years. Her testimony is available on the LWVCC website at www.cookcounty.il.lwvnet.org.  Veterans organizations were well represented as well, and requested additional money for the Veterans Assistance Commission. The remaining speakers represented various non-profit and business organizations and were for the most part in favor of the budget and commended the President for various programs and for not introducing any new taxes.

Departmental reviews continued with Anita Alvarez, CC States Attorney, presenting for her office. She first reviewed the achievements of her office citing their focus on gang and gun violence that are their most significant issues and require the bulk of their budget. She stated that over the past five years they have had staff reductions due to budget constraints while their workload has continued to increase. Prosecutors have very heavy caseloads, a factor in the length of time required for adjudication of cases. She also stated that she does not have adequate staff to provide coverage for misdemeanor court at all times. She had requested funding for 34 new positions and the proposed budget includes funding for 12 new positions. 

Ms. Alvarez said that her office wants to work towards President Preckwinkle’s goals of decreasing the jail population by seeking alternatives to incarceration. All parties involved need to come to the table to work on the issues of bond court, diversion programs, and treatment courts. She stated that every part of the justice system needs to have the resources to hold up their end of the system so they can do what is necessary to make the justice system work better. 

Commissioner Suffredin commended Ms. Alvarez for her endorsement of a holistic view of the concerns and asked if she could put a value on the savings from the diversion programs. She stated that $15 million savings had been realized in all the diversion programs. 

Commissioner Fritchey wanted to know why only 8% of those arrested were being released on I-bonds while the numbers for NYC were 70% and for Wash. DC were 80%. He asked that since the SA’s provide information to the judge so that a decision can be made about bond, what can be done to ensure that people are not being held in jail who could be out on bond?  He also stated that the number of pre-trial detainees in the CC jail is 50% higher than in other major systems and that $44 million had been paid for cases that were eventually dropped. Ms. Alvarez said that she was not certain about his numbers but that the efforts to work on these issues will continue. 

Commissioners also wanted to know if the ticketing for marijuana offenses had made a difference in the workload for her office and she stated that there did not seem to have been a significant impact.

Cynthia Schilsky, LWVCC Observer

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