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The State's Attorney of Cook County, the Annabelle Edlingberg.

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Good afternoon, all.

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Thank you, Chairman Daley, Vice Chairman Lowry, County Board.

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Seated up here with me as somebody who may be familiar to many of you, John Hur ahead.

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He was one of my first recruits to the new administration as our CFO.

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So, first, let me start with basics. Cook County State's Attorney's Office budget for fiscal year 25 is

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$221.3 million of that.

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Of that $158.3 million is derived from the general funds with the remainder coming from special

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purpose funds and grants, including approximately 11.3 from the federal government that I am

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of course concerned about in our current political environment.

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Our actual general fund spend at mid-year is $75.8 million with projected full-year spending roughly 2.5% ahead of our budget of figure.

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In terms of budgetive positions, we are operating with 130 vacant positions, 10.1% of 1278 general fund positions at mid-year.

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We inherited a budget with built-in turnover rate of 8.25%, which is much higher than the historically

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appropriate rate of 3% for this office.

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This reduced funding for salaries in this fiscal year by $6.7 million, which has meant

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we are not keeping up with attrition at this time.

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I will say that we have been working closely with the budget office to manage our hiring needs

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under this budget and on August 11th, we are bringing on 45 new bar takers. Our fiscal year 26 budget

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request is based on a return to a 3% turnover rate. So four priorities in the office since I entered

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the office last December, we have been systematically working through them. First and foremost,

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the gun violence that continues to plague our communities is our top priority. Over the last several

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years we've seen an explosion of mass shootings. We were seeing numbers that were unparalleled

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and were significantly higher than any other major city. While all cities saw an increase in

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gun crime during the pandemic, all other comparable cities saw their numbers retreat to pre-pandemic

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numbers. Chicago's did not. Last summer we were seeing a mass shooting on a regular basis.

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One of the causes of this increase was the increase in machine gun conversion devices, which are called MCDs.

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When a gun is modified with a switch, there are also called switches, it allows the gun to fire nearly 30 rounds in a second.

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It is truly a terrifying thing to watch.

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It also makes the gun very difficult to control when a gun is equipped with one of these switches.

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It just sprays bullets.

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That is why we're seeing people who have nothing to do with disputes getting swept up in gunfire.

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These are a scale model of an MCD.

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These are actual MCD devices.

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They look like a toy.

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They look like a Lego.

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They're plastic.

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It takes 10 seconds to take a gun and pop one of these things in and convert it to a machine gun.

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These can be made with a 3D printer in less than an hour.

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We cannot stop the flow of these and this is what is causing the ravages in gun violence.

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A day one we introduced a policy seeking that our prosecutors seek pre-trial detention for

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all detainable cases where a defendant possessed an MCD, a machine gun, an extended

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drum magazine or a ghost gun.

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In June our office hosted a national summit on the MCDs where prosecutors law enforcement

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personnel and lawmakers from across the country came together to strategize on how to address

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prevalence of these devices. Every major city is confronting this issue. We're going to continue

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to collaborate because no office has all the answers, but together we're going to start asking

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the right questions. We'll continue to work closely with our federal and state partners on

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illegal gun issues, especially CPD in the ATF. The CJIC or the Gun Crimes Intelligence Center in

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of Chicago has brought together stakeholders

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from across the region to focus on this issue.

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It's making a real difference.

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The Cook County State's Attorney's Office

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established our own gun crime strategy unit

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funded in part with our performance.

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We embedded both states attorneys and investigators

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over in C.J. and if I could talk for a moment

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about why C.J. is so important to us.

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They have technology where they can take a shell

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from that has been expended from a bullet at a crime scene

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and they put it into a machine called a night in machine.

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It will then tell them exactly where that gun has been utilized all over.

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It could be linked to 20 different crimes.

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Seeking detention and jail time is only one tool.

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And our office has robust alternatives to press,

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prosecution programs in place.

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There are 29 different alternative prosecution programs

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including Drug Treatment Court, Veteran's Treatment Court, Mental Health Court, Seeds

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Court, and several others.

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In May, we championed a bill in Springfield, which was passed unanimously, which streamlines

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the process for individuals who successfully completed diversion program to receive a

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void guard, a fire owner's identification card, and come into compliance with the law.

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This is a nuanced approach to gun crime.

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We treat MCDs, assault weapons very differently than we treat a class for regulation issue.

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Every person in Illinois has the right to have a firearm if they have the appropriate licensing

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of fire owners identification card.

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We have also taken a look at the issue of juvenile crime.

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We have all seen and heard about the rise in juvenile violent crime.

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We have seen some juveniles picking up multiple car jackings, multiple armarovaries, but we also know the harm that comes from incarcerating juveniles.

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We have developed a pilot program for juveniles that we are hopeful will bear fruit and will be able to be scaled countywide.

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wide. We have partnered with scrubble public schools and two community service providers in

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Wondale and Little Village. In lieu of detention, the young person will attend choose to change

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a CPS program which brings them into a lunch room setting where they give them a better lunch than

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is in normally available in the cafeteria. They give them some way or pizza and they also do cognitive

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behavioral therapy with them. They have seen their absentee rates drop significantly of kids who are

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involved in CPSs choose to change program. They don't call it cognitive behavioral therapy.

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They call it games or fun or whatever and it actually works. The vast majority of juveniles are

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arrested between 330 and 10 o'clock at night. This pilot program will address that, not just for

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school hours. A large component of this program is learning enrichment, job training, but also

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cognitive, behavioral therapy, not just for the juvenile but for their families. I think we can

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all recognize it. If a child is sticking a gun in someone's face repeatedly to commit our

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robbery or car jacking, that's something is going on with them psychologically. So, either we

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address it now when they are juveniles or we can continue to do what we have been doing and

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waiting them and tell we encountered them in the adult system. I'm not willing to do that.

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So we are actively seeking funding for this program and we have partnered with the University of

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Chicago to measure whether this program is a success or not. So when we initially started collaborating

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in figuring out what this program is and how we're going to measure the success of it.

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My view was, well, is there re-arrest rate less than other children similarly situated

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charged with similar crimes? If it's less, it's a success. But our juvenile prosecutors knew

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better than I did. They said, no, that's not the only measure of success. Are they having a better

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time and school. Are there relationships improving? Is there behavior problems decreasing? Those

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are all measures of success as well. So we are anxious to get this project off the ground and

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to start measuring whether it works. Just last week we discussed the crisis of domestic violence

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and I won't revisit that too much today other than to again acknowledge the efforts of Commissioner

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and see cancers. Through our new special victims bureau and our aspirational goal of establishing

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vertical prosecution for all of these cases we are focused on the survivors and holding

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those who abuse their partners or those who commit sexual violence accountable. Our third

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priority has been training. We hired a curriculum director on day one and we are training daily.

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We have already rolled out more than two dozen trainings. Some that the entire office must

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complete in a lunch and learn format and others

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that are specifically directed to their area of law.

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The goal is to have the best training ground

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for lawyers in this country.

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We are starting a class of 45 bartakers this August.

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This is the largest class that we have had in several years.

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We are having them all go through bartaker boot camp in August

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so that they can and will be able to hit the ground running.

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As far as 26 budget is as we begin to look ahead

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next year's budget I want you to know that we will continue to focus on these things as our priorities

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because they are the fundamentals to public safety and I believe we are having a real impact

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in a short amount of time. Looking forward we must work to modernize the office. I know many of you have

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heard me beat this dream about a case management system. It's difficult to overstate how necessary

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this is and how impactful it will be for the office, but it would alleviate so many of the issues

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we're facing today. From attorney and staff utilization to record keeping to data analysis and transparency.

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We currently have prosecutors tracking their work on Excel spreadsheets. This is the equivalent to

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giving them an abacus and some providers. As I've said time and time again, I want to know what

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what we're doing is making a difference if it's working.

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And if it's not, I want to know so that we can pivot

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and try something else.

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I do not want the numbers to tell me what I want to hear.

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Only a true case management system

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can give us that level of capability and confidence.

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We need more manpower at all levels of the office.

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Attrition has taken a very real toll over the past several years.

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the mass exodus has slowed, but we are in a hole right now. And the estimate needing to higher

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around 150 attorneys in 2026 just to stay ahead of it. Let me be clear, however, the goal is not

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to maintain the status quo. The goal is to grow and thrive and be effective.

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On that note, I would be remiss not to mention our glaring lack of forensic capability.

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We are the second largest prosecutors office in this country and the most complex, because

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the largest prosecutors office, the office of Los Angeles, rarely touch civil cases, whereas

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we have an entire bureau dedicated to civil practice, which touches on every single unit

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of county government.

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We also serve as the chief lawyer for Cacaoney.

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We are the only major cities prosecutor to office without a forensic unit.

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Instead of a unit, we employ a single scientist. She's wonderful by the way, but this is not a

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job per cell practitioner. Crime has changed. Everything has a forensic component. They can get DNA

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off of bullet shell casings. Sexual assault prosecutions require DNA evidence. Ballistics can

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established where else that gun was used. The technology available is the best evidence. We need

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to be ready to present that evidence. Everything is on video now. You can complete an entire trial

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without presenting a single live witness. That means we need the capability to present that video

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evidence. Cellphones can indicate exactly where someone is at a given time. We need this technology

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to be able to establish our cases. All of this requires a forensic capability that we are lacking

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and that is unacceptable. I can give you a very vivid example of this. Currently, the Cook County

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State's turn is off as storing $195,000 of video. All of Netflix contains roughly 37,000 hours

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of video. That's shocking for somebody who likes Netflix, obtaining tracking, storing and producing

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this information at the right time is a mammoth project and one we need as soon as possible.

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When I took on this job, I knew that the state's attorney's office had serious problems. That's

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why I got into this. This is what I found. I found people all over the office attorneys, investigators,

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admins victim witness personnel who were dedicated to the mission on the office.

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People who were dedicated to helping victims.

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People who understood the gravity of the responsibility that we carried to uphold the law

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not just for the victim, but for each and every person in that courtroom, including the defendant.

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I'm incredibly proud of this team, and I know that fully resorts there is no

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I want to thank the committee's time and I look forward to working with you all to adequately fund this office. I'm happy to take your questions. Last week I was speaking to a group of law enforcement officers and I said fire away. Don't ever say that to a group of armed men.

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Thank you for your presentation and I mean in the short period of time I want to

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convince you for the excellent job. You're doing the individuals who are your

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prosecutors and your entire staff. I know you mentioned two requests the case

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management and the forensic team. So hopefully we could discuss this as we go

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forward as well as I know you two a week ago it was adhering to the criminal

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just just, and I would like your quote and I know the commission, for who conducted the meeting,

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we look forward to working to see if any changes are needed and I sprint through it that we will

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hope forward it.

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Mr. Gainer.

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Thanks very much.

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I appreciate it being here.

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Picking up on the note that the Chairman brought up around last week's domestic volunteering.

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So there's two issues that arose, and we're, you know, look, I always try to focus on what

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the things that we can actually do with the county to move the ball forward. Two of them

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that arose, we chatted about a brief thing with the sheriff and just would like your thoughts

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and whether or not this is something you think you could support. One is on the FOID card issue,

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so I know that you have phenomenal staff actually hired from the sheriff's office that is now

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over with you on this issue of FOID cards. But if someone, if something happens such that someone

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loses their FOID card, any number, a range of things, none of them good, there is often the

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follow-up to actually make sure that the guns are retrieved as hard and difficult and needs

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to be better.

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One of the things that I raised yesterday and with the sheriff was, what if if someone gets

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their Ford car revoked and they get notification of that, they obviously have to go forth

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and either turn in the guns or sort that they don't have them.

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If that does not happen, why would we not want to preclude their ability to either renew their

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does exist, and so, you know, we assume this may take a change in Springfield, but

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what you're supporting with that, for that would be.

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So, there's a bunch of different statues that allow for that.

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So, for example, somebody's driving on a suspended license, or there's a

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barrier of things, and they have to clear that up before they can go ahead and get a

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driver's license. It's a lever, and it's a lever to force compliance, and

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and sometimes, especially with firearms,

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we need as many levers as we can in order to get complaints.

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If somebody has shown their danger,

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we absolutely have to pull every single lever

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we can to get the firearm out of their hands.

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OK, good.

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So that's something we like to go to Springfield

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within the second is, when we talked about the service

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of orders of protection, there's obviously

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a number that's issued, and a smaller number

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that's actually gets successfully served.

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The discussion of whether or not you

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could serve in order electronically was raised.

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The sheriff indicated that some of the advocates had pushed back, so they didn't further pursue it.

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My thought is that why wouldn't you ask the victim whether or not they were open to having it served electronically or not and let that be up to them.

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But that also seems to require a change in Springfield.

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But the cooperation of all of our elected officials that have to do law enforcement is important.

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So before we would move any further, is that something that you think makes sensors?

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I would have to look at the legislation on that because I do have some concerns about due

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process and and those are very contentious issues.

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A order of protection is an extremely contentious issue and the last thing we want is if it's

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a service issue is jurisdictional.

217
00:19:01,380 --> 00:19:06,100
So let's say you go ahead and you get a judgment and everything you know it goes up on a peel.

218
00:19:06,460 --> 00:19:10,560
It's everything you do is un-wound if jurisdiction is not correct.

219
00:19:10,560 --> 00:19:12,820
So I didn't have to take a look at the legislation.

220
00:19:13,420 --> 00:19:14,640
Then your feedback would really help.

221
00:19:15,300 --> 00:19:17,780
And lastly, just to tuck in a little bit more

222
00:19:18,580 --> 00:19:21,000
that you, you've obviously leaned in hard

223
00:19:21,000 --> 00:19:23,580
on addressing the lake with bonds when you really appreciate that,

224
00:19:23,660 --> 00:19:26,580
especially the machine gun conversion device that you mentioned.

225
00:19:27,380 --> 00:19:30,500
We've seen how that, I mean, just in New York yesterday,

226
00:19:30,640 --> 00:19:32,360
I mean, that this is a constant issue that

227
00:19:32,360 --> 00:19:35,360
it creates such devastation in communities, especially here.

228
00:19:35,820 --> 00:19:39,100
Can you talk a little bit more how you've really leaned in

229
00:19:39,100 --> 00:19:39,740
and gone after them?

230
00:19:39,740 --> 00:19:42,060
because I think that it's helpful for us to understand

231
00:19:42,060 --> 00:19:43,740
what can actually be done.

232
00:19:44,600 --> 00:19:47,120
So when you do this, to a guy,

233
00:19:47,280 --> 00:19:48,940
I really can't emphasize this enough.

234
00:19:49,680 --> 00:19:52,720
They're spraying 100 bullets at once.

235
00:19:53,980 --> 00:19:56,980
So we, during this machine gun conversion device summit,

236
00:19:56,980 --> 00:19:59,600
we actually went into a firing range.

237
00:19:59,640 --> 00:20:03,020
And we saw first and not a semi-onmatic weapon being fired

238
00:20:03,020 --> 00:20:05,400
and it was one, two, three, four, five.

239
00:20:05,800 --> 00:20:09,560
10 seconds later, they pop one of these little toy

240
00:20:09,560 --> 00:20:18,660
things in there, and it fires like crazy, but the interesting thing was the target, when

241
00:20:18,660 --> 00:20:24,780
it was a semi-automatic, it was Bulls Eye Bulls Eye Bulls Eye. A trained firearm expert

242
00:20:24,780 --> 00:20:33,120
in a firing range with one of these MCD devices. The target was all over. It wasn't just on

243
00:20:33,120 --> 00:20:35,740
this sheet, it was all over the room.

244
00:20:36,780 --> 00:20:39,700
Think about a 15-year-old in a car that's moving

245
00:20:40,240 --> 00:20:41,640
with that same type of weapon.

246
00:20:42,620 --> 00:20:47,540
I cannot emphasize enough how deadly these weapons are.

247
00:20:48,340 --> 00:20:50,360
And because they're so ubiquitous,

248
00:20:51,120 --> 00:20:53,140
let's say, in some magic world,

249
00:20:53,280 --> 00:20:56,340
we prohibited this from being printed on a 3D printer.

250
00:20:56,920 --> 00:21:00,300
Let's say, somehow we wave to one, and we could do that.

251
00:21:00,300 --> 00:21:02,600
They are also coming in from China.

252
00:21:03,340 --> 00:21:15,920
We saw the packaging from China and it looks like an erector set and it has a little toy car that you build with the erector set and you open up the box and it's 150 machine gun conversion devices.

253
00:21:16,580 --> 00:21:19,000
We cannot stop the flow of these.

254
00:21:19,580 --> 00:21:25,560
So the lever that we have to push is make it uncomfortable for people to be holding them.

255
00:21:25,840 --> 00:21:27,600
That's why we're asking for detention.

256
00:21:27,600 --> 00:21:33,840
And that's why we're asking for jail time because it's the only lever available to us.

257
00:21:40,010 --> 00:21:40,630
Thank you, Chairman.

258
00:21:41,610 --> 00:21:43,030
It's a turning bird, great seeing you.

259
00:21:43,030 --> 00:21:43,290
Great seeing you.

260
00:21:43,310 --> 00:21:44,350
In your team.

261
00:21:44,850 --> 00:21:46,370
You noted it, but I missed it.

262
00:21:46,390 --> 00:21:47,810
What's the attrition number?

263
00:21:48,110 --> 00:21:49,130
A rate.

264
00:21:49,230 --> 00:21:49,750
Eight points.

265
00:21:49,750 --> 00:21:50,050
It is.

266
00:21:50,550 --> 00:21:51,330
Eight points.

267
00:21:51,930 --> 00:21:56,490
So, Commissioner John Hurren, Chief Financial Officer, the turnover rate for this year was

268
00:21:56,490 --> 00:21:57,730
eight and a quarter percent.

269
00:21:58,310 --> 00:22:03,270
The attrition rate, meaning the number of people who, especially assays who are leaving

270
00:22:03,270 --> 00:22:06,850
in the office is a little over 11%.

271
00:22:06,850 --> 00:22:08,250
And John, you've been here.

272
00:22:08,530 --> 00:22:10,890
How does that correlate to previous years?

273
00:22:10,990 --> 00:22:11,790
Is that an uptake?

274
00:22:12,050 --> 00:22:14,330
Is that about average where we would that?

275
00:22:15,090 --> 00:22:17,130
So we look back at a couple years data,

276
00:22:17,330 --> 00:22:21,290
and it has gone down slightly since the new administration took

277
00:22:21,290 --> 00:22:25,570
office, but it is still considerably higher than we've seen

278
00:22:25,570 --> 00:22:27,410
in other offices and agencies.

279
00:22:28,930 --> 00:22:32,310
So as the state attorney said, we don't have the resources right

280
00:22:32,310 --> 00:22:39,150
to keep up with that attrition rate and state attorney you've already noted that at a minimum

281
00:22:39,150 --> 00:22:45,330
150 attorneys are needed and that's why 2026 are you also relying on the services of

282
00:22:45,330 --> 00:22:53,530
paralegals as we've seen over the years where are you with that? So paralegals are a very very useful

283
00:22:53,530 --> 00:23:00,010
personnel to have. However, they can only do about 10% of what we need them to do in a courtroom.

284
00:23:00,010 --> 00:23:03,850
We need ASAs in the courtroom who can step up in front of the bench.

285
00:23:04,550 --> 00:23:12,130
The secondary problem with the paralegos is the pay scale for paralegos that we have a significantly less than the public defender's office.

286
00:23:12,690 --> 00:23:19,430
So what we've seen is when we do get paralegos, we train them for a year and then they go to the public defender's office.

287
00:23:19,970 --> 00:23:26,750
What the public defenders are paying their paralegos is equivalent to what our first ASAs are making.

288
00:23:26,750 --> 00:23:32,690
So we cannot compete with public defenders in any way shape or form with paralegals.

289
00:23:33,390 --> 00:23:36,470
Right now our personnel needs our assays in the courtroom.

290
00:23:37,270 --> 00:23:40,030
We are on a skeleton crew in the courtroom.

291
00:23:40,490 --> 00:23:44,030
We have 20 misdemeanor calls that have one attorney.

292
00:23:44,570 --> 00:23:47,970
We have several felony courtrooms that have two attorneys in there.

293
00:23:48,130 --> 00:23:49,250
That's not functioning.

294
00:23:49,430 --> 00:23:52,950
That is not a inefficient use of our personnel.

295
00:23:52,950 --> 00:23:59,630
So, I love paralegals, I'd love to have more paralegals, but right now, our priority has to be ASA's.

296
00:23:59,990 --> 00:24:06,910
And I know that, given that, you've really fostered relationships with law schools, and the like, would you or someone speak to that?

297
00:24:08,470 --> 00:24:15,930
So, 7-Eleven's are, is under Supreme Court Rule 7-Eleven Law Students can come into our office and work with us as clerks.

298
00:24:17,050 --> 00:24:23,810
And over the last few years, they created a paid program of 7-11's, and we have all of those,

299
00:24:23,830 --> 00:24:30,650
but we have also reopened the pipeline for 7-11's to come and work with us for class credit.

300
00:24:31,370 --> 00:24:38,250
And so now we have a very open pipeline that has always been our main recruiting tool for

301
00:24:38,250 --> 00:24:44,470
new ASAs. It's a tryout. They come, they see if this is something they want to do, and we also

302
00:24:44,470 --> 00:24:50,370
get to see if there are good fit. The 7 and 11 program is a live and well, and we're going to continue

303
00:24:50,370 --> 00:24:56,230
to bring as many lost students in this possible. I think that's a great initiative and partnership.

304
00:24:57,170 --> 00:25:01,910
I want to drill down a little bit on the new forensic unit. I mean, this is exciting, and I've heard

305
00:25:01,910 --> 00:25:07,810
some, I've received some information about this from Anna and other members of the team.

306
00:25:07,810 --> 00:25:14,310
if you just drill down a little bit and really share with us the benefits of having this unit and

307
00:25:14,310 --> 00:25:18,350
to the extent there's data that we have from maybe other counties of jurisdictions where you

308
00:25:18,350 --> 00:25:24,490
have such a unit that would be interesting for us as we try to determine the efficacy of such a resource.

309
00:25:25,070 --> 00:25:30,390
So the forensics unit will be a hub. It will be a hub not just for the felony trial division but also

310
00:25:30,390 --> 00:25:31,750
special pros and juvenile.

311
00:25:32,350 --> 00:25:36,070
Anytime you need blistics or DNA evidence,

312
00:25:36,610 --> 00:25:39,230
that will come from this forensic unit hub.

313
00:25:39,730 --> 00:25:43,270
So we will have ASAs who are certified in blistics.

314
00:25:43,490 --> 00:25:47,830
They understand that technology that will also have an ASA

315
00:25:47,830 --> 00:25:49,050
who understands DNA.

316
00:25:49,950 --> 00:25:52,670
We have one scientist, I'd like to get another scientist.

317
00:25:53,190 --> 00:25:55,990
Scientists can interpret what that is,

318
00:25:56,470 --> 00:25:59,810
but we need those ASAs to be able to put it in a form

319
00:25:59,810 --> 00:26:01,130
that a jury could understand.

320
00:26:01,810 --> 00:26:06,590
We need ASAs who can go out and help people all over the system

321
00:26:06,590 --> 00:26:08,830
in presenting that type of information.

322
00:26:09,430 --> 00:26:10,150
It's a specialty.

323
00:26:10,850 --> 00:26:14,190
It's not something that people would just know how to do.

324
00:26:14,330 --> 00:26:15,630
You're a lawyer, you know how to do it.

325
00:26:15,630 --> 00:26:16,650
That's not how it works.

326
00:26:17,190 --> 00:26:19,370
So that's one component of the forensics unit.

327
00:26:19,930 --> 00:26:21,930
The second component of the forensics unit

328
00:26:21,930 --> 00:26:24,550
is a digital forensics lab.

329
00:26:25,030 --> 00:26:27,850
So we can take a phone, for instance,

330
00:26:27,850 --> 00:26:29,310
I call it a cell phone dump.

331
00:26:29,910 --> 00:26:33,110
It is an enormous amount of information

332
00:26:33,110 --> 00:26:35,830
that we have our investigators working on now,

333
00:26:35,830 --> 00:26:38,150
but we do not have the technology that we need.

334
00:26:38,670 --> 00:26:42,430
That cell phone information can give a wide variety

335
00:26:42,430 --> 00:26:43,010
of information.

336
00:26:43,470 --> 00:26:45,750
Not only could we call this social media,

337
00:26:46,250 --> 00:26:48,670
we could call exactly where those data points are,

338
00:26:48,690 --> 00:26:51,650
where somebody is at a specific time and place.

339
00:26:52,170 --> 00:26:53,490
But also video evidence.

340
00:26:54,030 --> 00:26:57,450
We are looking at, there is video on everything right now.

341
00:26:57,450 --> 00:27:03,590
So, we might get six hours of video on something of which we need 35 seconds.

342
00:27:04,490 --> 00:27:09,830
We don't have the time to be able to go through six hours of video, find the 35 seconds

343
00:27:09,830 --> 00:27:12,830
that we need, tender it to the defense and be ready to go.

344
00:27:13,350 --> 00:27:17,330
So that is a technology thing now that we are looking at.

345
00:27:17,530 --> 00:27:18,430
I'll give you an example.

346
00:27:18,550 --> 00:27:21,430
Let's say we're looking for a white car and six hours of video.

347
00:27:21,970 --> 00:27:26,750
You can put it into a program, it'll pull up every single clip where there's a white car.

348
00:27:26,750 --> 00:27:30,970
And that's a little bit, that's a manageable amount that an attorney can look at and be like,

349
00:27:31,190 --> 00:27:31,930
OK, here's my evidence.

350
00:27:32,610 --> 00:27:38,130
We tender the whole six hours to the defense with the portion that we are using for evidence,

351
00:27:38,530 --> 00:27:41,130
so that there is no longer jam and discover it.

352
00:27:41,250 --> 00:27:44,410
So we need that digital forensics as well.

353
00:27:45,150 --> 00:27:48,750
There's a third component to it, and I am blanking on what it is.

354
00:27:48,810 --> 00:27:50,070
What is our third component?

355
00:27:50,990 --> 00:27:51,990
Oh, trial technology.

356
00:27:51,990 --> 00:28:10,590
So not only do we need to understand and be able to present this, we need to be able to go in front of a jury and have the technology capable of presenting this to a jury where they can understand exactly what that evidence shows and how we're proving our case.

357
00:28:10,590 --> 00:28:19,290
So it seems as though efficiency can go up and maybe ultimately case movement we can see less delay and you'll have less questions.

358
00:28:19,870 --> 00:28:27,150
This is our best evidence. This is is irrefutable proof and that makes our cases solid.

359
00:28:27,470 --> 00:28:31,870
When we go up on a peel when they're challenged later we have solid evidence.

360
00:28:32,550 --> 00:28:39,570
So when I'm saying that's the best evidence available that is the best evidence for the entire system.

361
00:28:39,570 --> 00:28:42,990
So, one follow-up, and then Chairman, I'm done.

362
00:28:44,030 --> 00:28:45,370
Let's just focus on ballistic.

363
00:28:45,910 --> 00:28:51,810
So, you go through this process and we're able now because of the forensics unit to conduct

364
00:28:51,810 --> 00:28:53,970
our own analysis of the relative to ballistic.

365
00:28:54,970 --> 00:28:57,990
How does that affect or impact the role of law enforcement?

366
00:28:58,290 --> 00:28:59,370
Is this a both-hand?

367
00:28:59,650 --> 00:29:00,130
Is there?

368
00:29:00,330 --> 00:29:01,670
How will that actually play out?

369
00:29:01,830 --> 00:29:03,030
It makes us more effective.

370
00:29:03,030 --> 00:29:12,290
It makes us more efficient and it makes us be able to collaborate and get more done in a much more efficient manner.

371
00:29:13,070 --> 00:29:16,060
So, is the role of law enforcement diminished?

372
00:29:16,950 --> 00:29:17,890
I don't think so.

373
00:29:18,190 --> 00:29:19,910
There are still arrests that need to be made.

374
00:29:20,210 --> 00:29:21,970
There are still evidence that needs to be gathered.

375
00:29:22,370 --> 00:29:24,830
There are still interviews that need to be done.

376
00:29:25,090 --> 00:29:27,610
Those are all part of law enforcement as well.

377
00:29:27,890 --> 00:29:29,330
This is an enhancement.

378
00:29:29,970 --> 00:29:30,550
Thank you.

379
00:29:30,730 --> 00:29:31,150
Nothing further.

380
00:29:31,150 --> 00:29:32,090
And

381
00:29:35,070 --> 00:29:43,570
thank you, in reference to the sharing of evidence, I believe the public defender mentioned it earlier, so it will be improved in proves everyone.

382
00:29:44,210 --> 00:29:44,550
Absolutely.

383
00:29:45,490 --> 00:29:53,230
And if I could mention the public defender's office has six attorneys who have a scientific background in their forensics unit.

384
00:29:54,310 --> 00:29:54,890
That's significant.

385
00:29:56,410 --> 00:29:58,190
Make sure more.

386
00:29:59,210 --> 00:29:59,730
Follow back.

387
00:30:00,080 --> 00:30:00,920
Good afternoon.

388
00:30:05,370 --> 00:30:10,850
Good afternoon. Good afternoon. Yesterday, the sheriff spoke about his office scene.

389
00:30:14,630 --> 00:30:25,190
It's recently said that they had seen a slew of this board recently saw a slew of testifiers who came to the board to express their concerns about their safety.

390
00:30:32,520 --> 00:30:36,060
So, first of all, there is two components, two orders of protection.

391
00:30:36,320 --> 00:30:39,480
One is a civil order of protection, one is a criminal order of protection.

392
00:30:40,140 --> 00:30:43,340
States Attorney's Office has nothing to do with the civil orders of protection.

393
00:30:44,500 --> 00:30:54,600
The criminal orders of protection, if it is served and it is understood by the defendant

394
00:30:54,600 --> 00:31:01,040
what the parameters are, and they were put on a GPS monitor, or they're detained because of it.

395
00:31:01,040 --> 00:31:09,360
I think it's very, very effective in deterring any further domestic violence. What we need to do

396
00:31:09,360 --> 00:31:15,560
as prosecutors is make sure that we are talking to that victim as soon as we possibly can

397
00:31:15,560 --> 00:31:21,980
and getting them the services that they need. We've seen this cycle of violence. Again and again and again

398
00:31:21,980 --> 00:31:26,280
where they're going back to their abuser because they have no choice because of financial

399
00:31:26,280 --> 00:31:31,000
because of their children because of whatever reasons we need to make sure that our services

400
00:31:31,000 --> 00:31:37,360
are meeting them as soon as we possibly can. So on a felony case where we would be there,

401
00:31:37,360 --> 00:31:43,920
they're right there at the point of charging with felony review. We have to be there meeting the victim

402
00:31:43,920 --> 00:31:48,900
and making sure that we are connecting them to resources so they are not forced back into that

403
00:31:48,900 --> 00:31:50,240
which was where they're not safe.

404
00:31:50,920 --> 00:31:52,700
I don't think there's any question right now.

405
00:31:52,780 --> 00:31:55,660
Last year, it was 9% of the total murders

406
00:31:55,660 --> 00:31:57,220
were domestic violence related.

407
00:31:57,820 --> 00:32:01,580
We have seen a plunge in murders in the county,

408
00:32:02,120 --> 00:32:06,240
but 17% of those murders now are domestic related.

409
00:32:06,560 --> 00:32:09,720
That means I've almost doubled in the percentage of murders.

410
00:32:11,560 --> 00:32:12,980
We need to do better.

411
00:32:13,680 --> 00:32:16,540
We need to make sure our processes and our systems

412
00:32:16,540 --> 00:32:17,420
are in place.

413
00:32:17,420 --> 00:32:27,060
Part of the civil orders of protection worldwide is I would like women to bring criminal charges.

414
00:32:27,380 --> 00:32:29,560
That's where the protection comes in.

415
00:32:30,000 --> 00:32:35,500
That's where we can get somebody detained or put on a GPS monitor where they can't come near them.

416
00:32:35,860 --> 00:32:39,260
Those are the things that we can do immediately upon going into court.

417
00:32:39,880 --> 00:32:45,640
Oh, these women that testified that they don't so safe, they would just continuously call

418
00:32:45,640 --> 00:32:46,260
the police.

419
00:32:46,500 --> 00:32:47,980
That's how they would put it on a criminal.

420
00:32:48,320 --> 00:32:54,440
In civil orders of protection, if they were not served by the sheriff's office, previously

421
00:32:54,440 --> 00:32:58,020
the state's attorney's office could not get access to that.

422
00:32:58,360 --> 00:33:01,880
So you might have five prior orders of protection, but they were never served.

423
00:33:02,300 --> 00:33:06,520
And the state's attorney's office couldn't see the contents of those orders of protection,

424
00:33:06,520 --> 00:33:09,540
and we couldn't utilize them in any detention hearing.

425
00:33:10,200 --> 00:33:13,180
We knew we needed access to that information quickly.

426
00:33:14,220 --> 00:33:17,060
So we immediately petitioned the Chief Judge's Office

427
00:33:17,060 --> 00:33:20,060
to make sure that we had access to those files.

428
00:33:20,620 --> 00:33:23,800
We needed to have access to the child protection files.

429
00:33:24,260 --> 00:33:26,640
We needed to have access to divorce groups.

430
00:33:27,240 --> 00:33:30,380
All of those sources of information

431
00:33:30,380 --> 00:33:33,480
that we were precluded from having we now have.

432
00:33:33,480 --> 00:33:40,480
Our detention rates on domestic violence went from about 50 percent when we took office to 82 percent now.

433
00:33:40,800 --> 00:33:42,200
That's a significant change.

434
00:33:43,580 --> 00:33:49,040
So, if a person comes here and they testify that they don't feel safe, what is your recommendation?

435
00:33:49,360 --> 00:33:51,580
We can't just tell them to call it Chief Judge's office.

436
00:33:51,960 --> 00:33:55,920
No, I would say that if they're not feeling safe, we need specifics.

437
00:33:56,500 --> 00:34:00,720
We need evidence in order to establish why are they not feeling safe?

438
00:34:00,720 --> 00:34:03,600
start keeping track of things, keeping track of the phone calls,

439
00:34:03,860 --> 00:34:07,100
keeping track of the visits, keeping track every single time in order

440
00:34:07,100 --> 00:34:08,260
a projection is violated.

441
00:34:08,880 --> 00:34:12,040
If they have a log and they go to the police with the log,

442
00:34:12,220 --> 00:34:16,060
then it is just a process of getting a violation of an order protection.

443
00:34:16,660 --> 00:34:18,040
Going, that's a crime.

444
00:34:20,260 --> 00:34:24,380
And I believe that this question is probably more for the Chief Judge's office,

445
00:34:24,700 --> 00:34:25,960
but I'm going to ask it anyway.

446
00:34:26,840 --> 00:34:27,040
I'll wing it.

447
00:34:27,040 --> 00:34:27,700
I'll wing it, Commissioner.

448
00:34:27,700 --> 00:34:43,440
Um, some of the testifiers that came here to the board to testify they, there was a lot of complaints about the Guardian at Lightems, and one woman testified that she was actually arrested for not being able to pay her fees that are associated with having a Guardian at Lightems.

449
00:34:44,000 --> 00:34:47,780
Are we arresting and putting women in jail for not being able to pay?

450
00:34:47,780 --> 00:34:50,140
No. No.

451
00:34:51,200 --> 00:34:58,120
They could be arrested for, I said in a post judgment court room for many years.

452
00:34:58,940 --> 00:35:04,780
So the only way you get arrested is if you violate a court order, you could be violated

453
00:35:04,780 --> 00:35:10,320
for that and held in contempt of court, but people are not being arrested for not paying

454
00:35:10,320 --> 00:35:10,780
fees.

455
00:35:11,860 --> 00:35:13,520
All right. Thank you so much.

456
00:35:15,930 --> 00:35:18,730
Thanks for clarification. I think we've stated by one of the

457
00:35:18,730 --> 00:35:25,490
agencies, that if the police respond and they have a cut out, they could check into, if the

458
00:35:25,490 --> 00:35:29,350
individual tells them there's an order of protection that they could go into the legacy

459
00:35:29,350 --> 00:35:32,970
or one of the accounts I remember during that remaining.

460
00:35:33,130 --> 00:35:36,630
So I want to test find in this, that they can't issue a report of

461
00:35:38,870 --> 00:35:39,190
protection.

462
00:35:39,410 --> 00:35:40,630
It was issued earlier.

463
00:35:45,410 --> 00:35:46,410
Commissioner DeGnaud.

464
00:35:47,090 --> 00:35:47,570
Thank you, Chairman.

465
00:35:47,810 --> 00:35:52,670
Thank you, State's attorney for being here and your team, for all the work that you've

466
00:35:52,670 --> 00:35:57,690
in the short time that you've been in the office since you've been elected. So for years we have

467
00:35:57,690 --> 00:36:03,390
talked about how to fill vacancies at the Cook County State Attorney's Office and these hearings

468
00:36:03,390 --> 00:36:08,670
and it sounds like you have been able to make some pretty significant headway over the last

469
00:36:08,670 --> 00:36:15,710
months. Can you talk a little bit more about your need for new positions beyond the vacancy?

470
00:36:15,710 --> 00:36:24,710
I know that you had talked a bit about the need for people on your forensics unit, you

471
00:36:24,710 --> 00:36:33,250
will need at least two ASAs for DNA, Ballistics and Investigators in addition, and in

472
00:36:33,250 --> 00:36:35,990
total, there's like a couple hundred people that you need.

473
00:36:36,090 --> 00:36:38,250
Can you kind of break that out for us a little bit more, please?

474
00:36:38,970 --> 00:36:39,030
Sure.

475
00:36:39,890 --> 00:36:45,690
I'm going to default to John in a minute, but I did want to say it is a big

476
00:36:45,690 --> 00:36:53,230
minimum that we need three assistants in each and every felony courtroom. That is a bare minimum that's necessary.

477
00:36:54,070 --> 00:37:00,210
We have misdemeanor calls, 20 different misdemeanor calls all over the county that have one assistant state's attorney in there.

478
00:37:00,490 --> 00:37:07,710
So if you have 60 or 70 cases on the call, someone has to be running the call. Someone has to be talking to witnesses.

479
00:37:07,710 --> 00:37:13,510
as someone has to be making sure that our evidence for trials are ready to go.

480
00:37:14,470 --> 00:37:19,130
It is not a luxury to have three assistants in a courtroom.

481
00:37:19,270 --> 00:37:20,230
It's a necessity.

482
00:37:20,890 --> 00:37:25,050
In order to respond to the victims that we're serving every single day, we absolutely

483
00:37:25,050 --> 00:37:27,030
need to have three assistants in a courtroom.

484
00:37:27,710 --> 00:37:36,370
In addition, our civil division needs as many attorneys as we can possibly get and that

485
00:37:36,370 --> 00:37:42,270
is money well spent, and if you will in judgment for one minute, our asset forefature unit

486
00:37:42,270 --> 00:37:47,670
has one attorney in it. We need four attorneys. Asset forefature allows us to go after

487
00:37:47,670 --> 00:37:55,550
narcotics, human trafficking, gun trafficking, operations, where not only can we take down an

488
00:37:55,550 --> 00:38:03,950
entire network by seizing their assets, but we get to retain 25% of the assets that are recovered.

489
00:38:03,950 --> 00:38:11,230
that is money coming back into Cook County's coffers. That is is every single attorney we fund

490
00:38:11,230 --> 00:38:18,190
for asset for a future will pay for itself. So that's one. Our civil actions bureau touches

491
00:38:18,190 --> 00:38:24,150
every single unit of Cook County government. We need to have attorneys in order to litigate

492
00:38:24,150 --> 00:38:29,930
these cases effectively. We need to make sure that our attorneys, we will know that they are trained,

493
00:38:29,930 --> 00:38:34,450
we will know that they understand that area of law as experts.

494
00:38:35,170 --> 00:38:38,910
We need to make sure that all of those divisions are fully staffed,

495
00:38:38,910 --> 00:38:40,790
fully trained and ready to go.

496
00:38:41,130 --> 00:38:42,590
That is good government.

497
00:38:43,170 --> 00:38:45,230
So I'm going to turn over to John on the specifics.

498
00:38:46,730 --> 00:38:47,150
Thank you.

499
00:38:47,330 --> 00:38:47,370
So.

500
00:38:47,530 --> 00:38:49,870
Just John before, can you have to identify yourself?

501
00:38:50,030 --> 00:38:50,270
Yes.

502
00:38:50,270 --> 00:38:53,890
I'll start the record, but I also want you to talk a little bit about our

503
00:38:53,890 --> 00:38:56,030
historic reliance on outside council.

504
00:38:56,030 --> 00:39:04,030
And if we bulk up our internal staffing, how that will affect your work, both from an administrative

505
00:39:04,030 --> 00:39:06,670
perspective and from a financial perspective.

506
00:39:07,210 --> 00:39:09,590
Thank you, Commissioner.

507
00:39:09,750 --> 00:39:09,810
Thank you, Commissioner.

508
00:39:09,810 --> 00:39:11,210
General and Chief Financial Officer.

509
00:39:12,170 --> 00:39:16,230
So as the State Attorney said, our needs are many in there across the office.

510
00:39:16,570 --> 00:39:22,490
So the budget request that the entire office has worked very hard to put together presents

511
00:39:23,290 --> 00:39:32,950
And across the board, need that equates to about 380 positions in addition to the vacant positions that the office presently has.

512
00:39:33,610 --> 00:39:38,570
Those are in every unit, every office, every discipline across the office.

513
00:39:38,730 --> 00:39:42,890
It includes paralegals, investigators, administrative assistance.

514
00:39:43,630 --> 00:39:47,710
It's to meet the needs as the state's attorneys described.

515
00:39:47,710 --> 00:39:58,450
And this is a very new type of practice of law, the e-discovery that we're confronted with is created volumes of work that just didn't exist in the past.

516
00:39:59,170 --> 00:40:15,410
Specific to your question about the civil side, where we have a reliance on outside counsel that the analysis that we've done internally suggests that not only do you gain a body of knowledge and internal operating expertise,

517
00:40:15,410 --> 00:40:20,970
but you gain efficiencies by having staff attorneys working on workers'

518
00:40:21,150 --> 00:40:26,010
compcases, civil rights and towards cases, things that are the everyday

519
00:40:26,010 --> 00:40:31,510
work of that bureau in order to protect the county and manage risk for the

520
00:40:31,510 --> 00:40:36,030
county. So that's one example of an area where that building that bench of

521
00:40:36,030 --> 00:40:43,010
internal expertise will have a financial payoff that down the road is much greater

522
00:40:43,010 --> 00:40:46,390
than the investment in the talent that we'll be doing the work.

523
00:40:47,910 --> 00:40:54,070
That sounds great. Just to stand staffing for a second, the FY25 budget incorporated a

524
00:40:54,070 --> 00:41:01,470
turn over rate, a greater than 8%. So how does that really impact your financials?

525
00:41:02,370 --> 00:41:08,770
So what it does is it presented a lot fewer salary dollars for the office to actually be able

526
00:41:08,770 --> 00:41:13,950
fill vacant positions. So it's not like one person would be in that job if it's a

527
00:41:13,950 --> 00:41:19,390
if they're making $70,000 a year. So you're not getting $70,000 for that

528
00:41:19,390 --> 00:41:22,770
position you're getting less because you're thinking that turnover is going to

529
00:41:22,770 --> 00:41:27,610
happen and that's going to take time so there'll be a gap. It's sort of a theoretical

530
00:41:27,610 --> 00:41:31,930
concept if you will where it's not really applied on a position by position basis.

531
00:41:32,150 --> 00:41:37,470
It is a limitation on the totality of available dollars that are appropriated

532
00:41:37,470 --> 00:41:39,890
to cover salaries, expense in the office.

533
00:41:41,290 --> 00:41:44,230
And prior to the last couple of years,

534
00:41:44,350 --> 00:41:48,290
the office was historically budgeting that at about 3%.

535
00:41:48,290 --> 00:41:50,510
We saw it escalate over the last several years,

536
00:41:52,170 --> 00:41:54,650
and it, with it, peaking at 8 and a quarter percent for this year.

537
00:41:54,810 --> 00:41:57,330
And as the state attorney said, that's more than $6 million

538
00:41:57,330 --> 00:42:00,530
of funding that we don't have.

539
00:42:00,950 --> 00:42:06,650
And that roughly translates into anywhere from 50 to 80 to 90 positions

540
00:42:06,650 --> 00:42:12,350
that we are just unable to fill throughout the year as the turnover happens as people leave,

541
00:42:12,910 --> 00:42:15,870
we are just slowed in our ability to fill those positions.

542
00:42:16,570 --> 00:42:23,490
So, would your budget request for FY26 include a decrease in the documented turnover rate

543
00:42:23,490 --> 00:42:25,730
since it's not your not turning over a eight percent?

544
00:42:27,290 --> 00:42:32,970
Yes, the initial budget request is based upon a reduction of that back to the historical

545
00:42:32,970 --> 00:42:41,550
3% turnover rate, as I said, it's sort of a theoretical number and if we are able to achieve

546
00:42:41,550 --> 00:42:46,830
our goal of building the office that we've described in the budget request, that turnover

547
00:42:46,830 --> 00:42:53,670
rate may be higher in year to year, but as long as we have the positions to begin to fill

548
00:42:53,670 --> 00:43:00,350
them, we will then seek the dollars in order to provide for those positions. There's two components

549
00:43:00,350 --> 00:43:05,930
to it. There's dollars and actual positions, and so we've identified the positions, and now we're

550
00:43:05,930 --> 00:43:11,570
working on the funding mechanisms with the budget office in order to get there. Okay, and so

551
00:43:11,570 --> 00:43:17,750
you know, we already talked a little bit about digital discovery, and what's necessary for your office

552
00:43:17,750 --> 00:43:30,330
to ensure the proper number of victims specialist investigators in that 380 new positions. So we don't

553
00:43:30,330 --> 00:43:34,490
have in order to make sure that your office is doing what is required by the law.

554
00:43:36,470 --> 00:43:37,870
So I'm in favor of those.

555
00:43:38,670 --> 00:43:44,590
When we met with our pre mid-year budget hearing meeting a couple of

556
00:43:44,590 --> 00:43:48,710
weeks ago in preparation for this meeting here today, we had talked about

557
00:43:48,710 --> 00:43:52,670
working on your new case management system, which I think you had

558
00:43:52,670 --> 00:43:54,950
discussed a little bit with Commissioner Moore.

559
00:43:56,090 --> 00:43:59,410
And so the public defender was here before you and said that they also

560
00:43:59,410 --> 00:44:04,690
see a lot of e-discovery and I had mentioned to them that I think really making sure that there

561
00:44:04,690 --> 00:44:10,330
is some tech that allows you guys to share information because you have so many cases together,

562
00:44:10,890 --> 00:44:16,070
streamline the process and make financial sense for the county. You know, you have your own case

563
00:44:16,070 --> 00:44:19,830
management systems but as long as there's some tech that allows you to share that data,

564
00:44:20,130 --> 00:44:23,250
as you said, there's going to be growing e-discovery who knows what's going to be next.

565
00:44:24,570 --> 00:44:29,150
technology is just going to get bigger and hopefully better for governments and for private.

566
00:44:29,730 --> 00:44:35,170
So I think it's really incumbent upon the county to support you, make sure that that free

567
00:44:35,170 --> 00:44:40,750
way of traffic, you discover traffic, you know, there's a firewall obviously for confidentiality,

568
00:44:41,030 --> 00:44:48,130
but that you guys can swiftly and streamline your operations by being able to share that.

569
00:44:50,870 --> 00:44:59,770
A little bit about your litigation technology unit, you talked a little bit about that, that would also ensure that NFO is shared quickly.

570
00:45:00,000 --> 00:45:26,940
Your office and the defense side. It would ensure speedy trial. I know that you both have seen some of the, the, excuse me, press reports that have come out about the length of time that people are detained in our jail and that the faster you can work in the public tender can work or a defense expert can work or defense attorney can work. The faster the trial will happen. The less time people hopefully spend in jail and the less financial burden to the county.

571
00:45:28,320 --> 00:45:34,840
So, is there, with a litigation technology unit, what is that in tell for our toll number of people?

572
00:45:38,020 --> 00:45:42,880
I believe we're looking for at least four new trial technology professionals.

573
00:45:44,520 --> 00:45:53,080
And obviously, there's a bigger picture component of working with the Chief Judge's office on the court room technology aspect of it.

574
00:45:53,080 --> 00:46:00,300
But the budget request begins with internal four additional people for trial technology support.

575
00:46:00,300 --> 00:46:01,200
Okay, perfect.

576
00:46:01,540 --> 00:46:02,900
My last question is around EM.

577
00:46:03,080 --> 00:46:04,020
There's an EM transition.

578
00:46:04,680 --> 00:46:08,900
Do you have thoughts about how that transition's going or, you know?

579
00:46:09,660 --> 00:46:14,700
So, and I know I do now have to overly explain this to this group.

580
00:46:15,280 --> 00:46:22,180
But electronic monitoring was transferred from the sheriff's office to the chief judge's office on April 1st.

581
00:46:22,180 --> 00:46:33,660
There are some issues with it, and the reason is because the Sheriff's Office had 175 sworn

582
00:46:33,660 --> 00:46:36,760
law enforcement officers who were in charge of the electronic monitoring.

583
00:46:37,920 --> 00:46:42,900
If someone went off of the electronic monitoring, if they violated it, or if they went

584
00:46:42,900 --> 00:46:50,280
a while, if they cut off their monitor, one of the Sheriff's officers could go and retrieve

585
00:46:50,280 --> 00:46:56,140
that person bring an accord and see if it's necessary to charge them with escape or to ask for

586
00:46:56,140 --> 00:47:03,240
detention. Anyways, when that system moved to the Chief Judge's office, it was placed under the

587
00:47:03,240 --> 00:47:09,540
rubrics of pre-trial services. Pre-trial services are not law enforcement authorities. They do not

588
00:47:09,540 --> 00:47:16,260
have a rest authority. They do not have the ability to go and get somebody if they are on electronic

589
00:47:16,260 --> 00:47:22,940
monitoring and they have gone a while or cut off their band. The only mechanism that they

590
00:47:22,940 --> 00:47:29,920
have is to file a violation and the violation would have to somehow find the defendant to

591
00:47:29,920 --> 00:47:35,900
give him notice of the violation in order to have him in court. It's a significant problem.

592
00:47:36,780 --> 00:47:43,060
We have instructed our assistant states attorneys if we ask for detention and we have given our

593
00:47:43,060 --> 00:47:48,180
systems very specific types of crimes that we ask for detention on.

594
00:47:48,440 --> 00:47:49,340
It's not willy-nilly.

595
00:47:49,980 --> 00:47:55,440
The pre trial fairness act gives us a very strict boundaries on when we can ask for detention.

596
00:47:56,060 --> 00:47:58,820
In addition to those boundaries, we have our own boundaries.

597
00:47:59,440 --> 00:48:03,720
We ask for detention each and every time someone is found with the machine gun conversion

598
00:48:03,720 --> 00:48:04,280
device.

599
00:48:04,600 --> 00:48:08,100
We ask for detention anytime a weapon is used in a forceful felony.

600
00:48:08,100 --> 00:48:14,220
We asked for detention any time, a forceful felony is put somebody in the hospital.

601
00:48:14,960 --> 00:48:20,420
We asked for detention if any time someone commits a violent crime on the CTA.

602
00:48:21,920 --> 00:48:24,780
Any sexual assault we will ask for detention.

603
00:48:25,080 --> 00:48:27,880
These are all allowable under the Petrial Fairness Act.

604
00:48:27,920 --> 00:48:30,440
In addition, this is not an exhaustive list.

605
00:48:30,620 --> 00:48:36,540
If somebody has a criminal background that allows us to ask for detention and the crime warrant

606
00:48:36,540 --> 00:48:41,540
we will ask for detention. If we're not asking for detention, I don't care if somebody

607
00:48:41,540 --> 00:48:46,920
is monitored or not. They are not a danger to the public. What the pre-trial fairness act

608
00:48:46,920 --> 00:48:52,740
says, and it's a fundamental change that we are the first in the nation doing this. It says,

609
00:48:52,900 --> 00:48:58,120
we are not going to look at money bond anymore. We are only going to look at are you a danger

610
00:48:58,120 --> 00:49:06,520
to the public or are you not? If you are a danger to the public, we ask for detention. If we're

611
00:49:06,520 --> 00:49:11,520
believe you're a danger and you can go about your life and get ready for trial. There is no need for

612
00:49:11,520 --> 00:49:18,660
electronic monitoring. But if somebody is a danger to the public they should not be on electronic

613
00:49:18,660 --> 00:49:24,440
monitoring. There are currently 40 people charged with murder or attempt murder on electronic monitoring.

614
00:49:24,980 --> 00:49:31,240
That is not an appropriate fence of fence to be on electronic monitoring. So we take our responsibility

615
00:49:31,240 --> 00:49:36,240
very, very seriously, and when we ask for detention and when we do not.

616
00:49:37,520 --> 00:49:39,500
Thank you. Thank you, Chairman. There's all my questions.

617
00:49:50,950 --> 00:49:51,870
Good afternoon, Your Honor.

618
00:49:52,190 --> 00:49:53,390
Good afternoon. It was good to see you.

619
00:49:53,630 --> 00:49:55,070
And I'm always going to call you that.

620
00:49:55,210 --> 00:49:56,590
I appreciate that very much.

621
00:49:56,970 --> 00:49:58,330
It's a sign of respect, by the way.

622
00:49:59,510 --> 00:50:03,850
First off, I wanted to, again, just as I said to the public defender,

623
00:50:05,550 --> 00:50:07,470
and I'm sure my colleagues are sick of me talking about it.

624
00:50:08,110 --> 00:50:11,210
But having been on trial a lot recently and being able to use my iPad

625
00:50:11,210 --> 00:50:16,350
for everything I need and to access the cloud and almost limitless data without having to worry

626
00:50:16,350 --> 00:50:22,930
about how many, how much RAM I have or how many megabytes of data I can store on my computer

627
00:50:23,610 --> 00:50:27,770
has made my job a lot easier, particularly when you can interface with an LMO or other

628
00:50:28,250 --> 00:50:34,190
audio visual advice. I think that's essential to you guys to do your job in the most basic sense

629
00:50:34,190 --> 00:50:40,970
in modern technology. So whatever your commitment is to this board will be reciprocated

630
00:50:40,970 --> 00:50:43,750
because we need you to have that at your fingertips

631
00:50:43,750 --> 00:50:45,070
as does the public offender.

632
00:50:45,610 --> 00:50:49,010
And have we do the same vendor so much the better?

633
00:50:49,370 --> 00:50:50,470
But we'll see how it goes.

634
00:50:52,930 --> 00:50:56,870
One thing that I get to see a lot of as chairman

635
00:50:56,870 --> 00:50:59,510
of the litigation committee is the civil aspect

636
00:50:59,510 --> 00:51:01,030
of your office.

637
00:51:01,390 --> 00:51:04,350
And I think justifiably, you talk a lot about the criminal

638
00:51:04,350 --> 00:51:05,650
aspects of it as well.

639
00:51:06,250 --> 00:51:07,330
It gets a lot more press.

640
00:51:07,370 --> 00:51:08,670
It is a big part of what you do.

641
00:51:08,670 --> 00:51:14,050
is obviously it's the basic human rights and constitutional rights of our citizens, which are essential.

642
00:51:14,690 --> 00:51:19,610
But we get sued a lot, and we rely on you for so much, and I just want to give a shout

643
00:51:19,610 --> 00:51:24,890
out to both Kath and Miguel Stein, and Jacka Scheller, who do an excellent job for you,

644
00:51:25,370 --> 00:51:29,750
and I have a higher expectation from them, and they meet it every single time.

645
00:51:29,930 --> 00:51:33,610
As to your entire civil practice division, so thank you for that.

646
00:51:34,370 --> 00:51:38,350
But I wonder sometimes, as you've talked about the asset forfeiture, there's other

647
00:51:38,350 --> 00:51:43,350
ways in which the State's Attorney's Office can focus on whether being environmental enforcement

648
00:51:43,350 --> 00:51:48,930
or other aspects of your office where it is more proactive and we're actually suing

649
00:51:48,930 --> 00:51:55,110
other people, which then obtains monies for the county of Cook, which makes it so much

650
00:51:55,110 --> 00:52:00,930
easier for us to fulfill our obligations to you to supply the resources in personnel you need.

651
00:52:01,230 --> 00:52:04,710
Is that something that you also think you can commit to continue to examine?

652
00:52:04,710 --> 00:52:09,610
Not only are we committing to examine it, and we are committed to making sure we are fully staffed

653
00:52:09,610 --> 00:52:15,810
in our tax department, and there's so many things that the state's attorney's office does,

654
00:52:16,330 --> 00:52:22,330
that the general public has no idea. But any sources of revenue that we can bring back to

655
00:52:22,330 --> 00:52:27,470
the county, that is money well spent. That is making sure that we have the personnel and the

656
00:52:27,470 --> 00:52:33,150
expertise necessary to do that. So we are absolutely committed to that, and Commissioner Britain,

657
00:52:33,150 --> 00:52:39,490
I appreciate you bring that issue up because civil is off a no-ver looked, but it should not be.

658
00:52:39,650 --> 00:52:41,970
It is such a vital part of this office.

659
00:52:42,750 --> 00:52:43,850
And I can see it every month.

660
00:52:44,690 --> 00:52:49,350
And I do appreciate the fact that there are times when we're going to have to have conflicts

661
00:52:49,350 --> 00:52:50,970
Council, there's no way around it.

662
00:52:51,350 --> 00:52:52,670
We do now monitor it a little bit.

663
00:52:53,070 --> 00:52:56,970
When I started, we monitor the outside council charges more than we used to.

664
00:52:57,130 --> 00:53:01,030
But I think that's also part of this to be able to have people trained in the system

665
00:53:01,030 --> 00:53:05,010
who can continue to have a handle the civil matters without getting them referred out,

666
00:53:05,270 --> 00:53:07,330
that certainly something we want to make sure of.

667
00:53:07,470 --> 00:53:13,590
And I just want to make sure that I caution, you know, I do get concerned if someone's, you know,

668
00:53:13,690 --> 00:53:17,510
some grandma's cars being seized because they're nephew used it in a crime.

669
00:53:18,330 --> 00:53:23,620
Are we, do we try to drill down to make sure that we're not using our set for a future in a way that would be

670
00:53:24,210 --> 00:53:26,770
either unfair or not in compliance with the letter of a law?

671
00:53:27,430 --> 00:53:30,430
Absolutely. And I will, if I could give you an example,

672
00:53:30,430 --> 00:53:38,430
We have had an explosion in cybercrime and and anybody who has an elderly parent could probably tell you that

673
00:53:38,430 --> 00:53:42,710
They're very sophisticated now in cybercrime. So

674
00:53:42,710 --> 00:53:50,410
Asset forfeiture is going after them and recovering money the feds won't touch a case if the value is less than 500,000

675
00:53:50,410 --> 00:53:57,930
Ouch when we're talking about a lot of people's entire retirement account done so not only is it taking a grandma's car

676
00:53:57,930 --> 00:54:06,490
it's not. That's a tiny, minuscule fraction. But what it is is recovering money for people who

677
00:54:06,490 --> 00:54:12,770
were depleted. They're entire retirement savings was depleted. And our one ASA who is an

678
00:54:12,770 --> 00:54:19,050
asset for a picture is so passionate about it. But every meeting we have with her, she goes through

679
00:54:19,050 --> 00:54:24,970
how much money she was able to recover for people who were the victims of financial fraud,

680
00:54:24,970 --> 00:54:31,090
of cybercrime, of all of those types of, so it's not just recovery for the county in assets,

681
00:54:31,470 --> 00:54:37,710
it's recovery, and making whole our victims. Absolutely. And I want to make sure that we continue

682
00:54:37,710 --> 00:54:46,530
to emphasize, as we continue to develop the new and different ways in which we approach certain aspects,

683
00:54:47,270 --> 00:54:51,910
including trying to find restorative justices, justice courts, and doing things a little bit better.

684
00:54:52,730 --> 00:54:57,610
I also know that there was once a hate crimes unit in the state's attorney's office, I know

685
00:54:57,610 --> 00:55:04,290
that we now have people who have a specialty in doing that, but is it your continuing commitment

686
00:55:04,290 --> 00:55:08,870
to make sure that if we see something that may be a misdemeanor, but because of a racial

687
00:55:08,870 --> 00:55:13,370
animus or a discriminatory animus can be upcharged to a hate crime, we're still going to make

688
00:55:13,370 --> 00:55:14,610
sure that we prosecute those?

689
00:55:14,930 --> 00:55:20,350
Not only are we prosecuting those, but we are seeking legislation and springfield in order

690
00:55:20,350 --> 00:55:26,550
to enhance hate crime. So let's say there is an aggrade battery that's committed and also has a hate crime

691
00:55:26,550 --> 00:55:33,510
component to it. What we are seeking to do is when that hate crime will enhance the aggravated

692
00:55:33,510 --> 00:55:39,790
battery to a higher class of felony. So not only will that function as a deterrent for people, but

693
00:55:39,790 --> 00:55:47,690
we are hoping that that will be a measure to keep that behavior out of our system. But I can tell you

694
00:55:47,690 --> 00:55:52,090
the last three days. I get a morning report of everything that was charged in the night before.

695
00:55:52,910 --> 00:55:58,770
And we had the hate crime of the spray painting, the anti-immigrant spray painting. Last night,

696
00:55:58,970 --> 00:56:04,230
we had a hate crime of people's spray painting in a building that had an Israeli flag in their window.

697
00:56:04,970 --> 00:56:11,790
It is, we have an angry populace right now. And we need to send a very clear message that that behavior

698
00:56:11,790 --> 00:56:16,530
is not tolerated and is, in fact, criminal. And I think your office is doing an excellent job

699
00:56:16,530 --> 00:56:19,590
of doing what we consider to be all hate.

700
00:56:19,850 --> 00:56:22,950
And all hate crimes to be equally odious

701
00:56:22,950 --> 00:56:24,670
and not just the anti-Semitic incidents

702
00:56:24,670 --> 00:56:27,990
as the Islamophobic of the LGBTQ plus.

703
00:56:28,490 --> 00:56:30,750
All of those things I know you're committed to maintaining

704
00:56:30,750 --> 00:56:33,950
and I appreciate that as we continue forward together.

705
00:56:34,110 --> 00:56:35,970
And that is my last point.

706
00:56:36,030 --> 00:56:38,730
I did have breakfast recently with your chief deputy.

707
00:56:39,590 --> 00:56:44,950
And I can tell you that from me, it is essential

708
00:56:44,950 --> 00:56:50,130
that we have those types of meetings. I didn't always meet necessarily with predecessors in that

709
00:56:50,130 --> 00:56:55,690
way. I found it both enlightening. It was always nice to see her. But also, because we talked about

710
00:56:55,690 --> 00:57:01,730
a lot of issues, our strategy on settlement, a wrongful conviction. The things that we're doing on

711
00:57:01,730 --> 00:57:06,670
budget, the ways that we can do better, trying to find new ways to increase revenue to the county.

712
00:57:06,870 --> 00:57:13,050
All of those things happen because you reach out to us and then we can then talk to our colleagues

713
00:57:13,050 --> 00:57:19,090
to find a way to do this better and I can tell you that meant a lot to me and it is exactly

714
00:57:19,090 --> 00:57:23,130
the kind of thing that I think the people of Cook County expected when they elected you

715
00:57:23,130 --> 00:57:27,310
and that you're doing and I just want to say personally thank you and let's keep it up.

716
00:57:27,610 --> 00:57:29,090
Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate that.

717
00:57:30,590 --> 00:57:31,030
Janor Naya.

718
00:57:32,230 --> 00:57:37,510
Thank you. Thank you so much for being here. Just a few questions.

719
00:57:37,510 --> 00:57:43,430
So earlier today, when Commissioner DeGnam was asking questions, and throughout your presentation,

720
00:57:43,750 --> 00:57:48,270
you've talked a little bit about turnover and how that's really impacted, you know, your operations,

721
00:57:48,590 --> 00:57:56,470
but also your budget. So I just wanted to clarify, so under personal, it looked like we were budgeting,

722
00:57:57,430 --> 00:58:02,660
65.7 million dollars, but it's gone over. That is that because of the turnover,

723
00:58:03,400 --> 00:58:10,520
It's what's the, so the attrition rate, we have to hold back 100 plus spots.

724
00:58:11,460 --> 00:58:19,920
So we had done as much hiring as we can do under that restriction of, you got 100 spots

725
00:58:19,920 --> 00:58:20,420
to can't touch.

726
00:58:21,360 --> 00:58:26,180
So we are bumping up on those numbers right now, and we might be a little bit over our

727
00:58:26,180 --> 00:58:33,100
and all numbers, but it's not because of lack of necessity, it's because we are triaging

728
00:58:33,100 --> 00:58:37,800
all over the system right now to make sure everything is covered, but I'm going to let

729
00:58:37,800 --> 00:58:39,220
Johnny answer that more specifically.

730
00:58:40,120 --> 00:58:40,600
Thank you.

731
00:58:40,740 --> 00:58:48,200
Commissioner, you're referring to the, you're a page 1, yes, you're today total budgeted versus

732
00:58:48,200 --> 00:58:48,940
the actual.

733
00:58:49,580 --> 00:58:55,420
Yes, so the building on what the state's ready said, so the office has been running a

734
00:58:55,420 --> 00:59:03,180
over budget on the salary spending, which is a reflection of doing everything we can in conjunction

735
00:59:03,180 --> 00:59:09,540
with the budget office to fill positions in spite of the lack of dollars in that line item,

736
00:59:09,800 --> 00:59:16,040
which is why you want to transfer the, potentially, transfer the amount from the 8% to the

737
00:59:16,040 --> 00:59:22,540
3% to kind of offset that. And so that would be a 2026 consideration, meaning the word for 2026,

738
00:59:22,540 --> 00:59:26,180
so that we're showing it in this budget and why we need to do that.

739
00:59:26,180 --> 00:59:33,440
Yes, it demonstrates the need, meaning we have more vacancies than operationally we can handle,

740
00:59:34,320 --> 00:59:37,060
but we don't have the dollars to fill them in this fiscal year.

741
00:59:37,460 --> 00:59:41,820
So it's something we want to address by making that adjustment in 2026.

742
00:59:42,140 --> 00:59:42,880
Okay, perfect.

743
00:59:43,280 --> 00:59:48,320
But Commissioner, if I could address this for one second, we have been when I said we've been

744
00:59:48,320 --> 00:59:59,960
The way we have been triaging is we created a multi jurisdiction bureau where there any type of crime that could cross county city lines any type of crime that we might

745
01:00:00,000 --> 01:00:15,820
I'd be partnering with federal agencies, those all go in multi jurisdictions. So cybercrime, financial crime, public corruption, some hate crime, human trafficking, narcotics trafficking, gun strategy. They are all in this multi jurisdiction bureau.

746
01:00:15,820 --> 01:00:22,860
We needed to have more cybercrime specialists, we needed more financial climate, and we didn't

747
01:00:22,860 --> 01:00:24,840
have the capability of hiring people.

748
01:00:25,400 --> 01:00:30,980
So what we did is we did specialized training that was open to anybody in the office to

749
01:00:30,980 --> 01:00:38,700
come to multi-day training with all different federal agencies, all different law enforcement

750
01:00:38,700 --> 01:00:45,260
agencies that deal in these areas, and then we would designate them as a cybercrime specialist.

751
01:00:45,260 --> 01:00:51,320
a financial crime specialist. They would retain their same position in the felony trial division

752
01:00:51,320 --> 01:00:57,520
with the regular case load, but as these cases came in, they could also be specially designated

753
01:00:57,520 --> 01:01:03,580
to be on those cases. So that we are covering the expertise that's necessary for that case,

754
01:01:03,680 --> 01:01:11,100
but we're triaging on how to utilize the personnel. And that's helping with just like the process internally

755
01:01:11,100 --> 01:01:16,500
of being able to really get to your point, the specific cases and having the right person out on

756
01:01:16,500 --> 01:01:16,900
place.

757
01:01:18,700 --> 01:01:28,080
I'm turning over to the vacancies, so right now, I think 129.7 vacancies, what did that look like

758
01:01:28,080 --> 01:01:30,000
when you came in?

759
01:01:30,540 --> 01:01:34,160
And then are you specifically hoping to address that in the next year?

760
01:01:34,200 --> 01:01:35,780
I know that that continues to be a challenge.

761
01:01:35,900 --> 01:01:40,500
I know we've talked a lot about it here already, but are there any specific steps that are

762
01:01:40,500 --> 01:01:44,560
to be taken. I know in the past we've worked with the different offices for attention and recruitment

763
01:01:44,560 --> 01:01:48,440
bonuses. So just what the strategy looks like there.

764
01:01:49,620 --> 01:01:55,120
So just to give you a historical perspective, when I became a state attorney in 1991, there were 23

765
01:01:55,120 --> 01:02:01,680
hundred applications for 50 spots. It was a highly coveted job. We want to get back to that. So the

766
01:02:01,680 --> 01:02:08,540
way that we are getting back to that is increasing the 711's first of all. But we're also making

767
01:02:08,540 --> 01:02:15,580
our trainings significant. This is like getting a master's degree in trial work. That's what we want.

768
01:02:16,020 --> 01:02:22,080
We want if you're interested in financial crimes, get a certification in it. If you're interested

769
01:02:22,080 --> 01:02:27,980
in animal cruelty, we're going to offer you a certification in that. We can offer you if you

770
01:02:27,980 --> 01:02:35,220
like writing, we have an appeals division. If you like being in a courtroom and working with the

771
01:02:35,220 --> 01:02:42,100
terms from beginning to end, that's our special victims unit. So we're utilizing a multitude of

772
01:02:42,100 --> 01:02:47,420
different areas to recruit as many people as possible. We are going out on recruitment, we are

773
01:02:47,420 --> 01:02:56,140
going to schools as many schools locally as we can to minimize our expenditures on travel. We are

774
01:02:56,140 --> 01:03:00,860
doing, I've actually made a new rule, if somebody wants to go on a training, they can do it if they

775
01:03:00,860 --> 01:03:04,240
and go do job recruitment at the law schools nearby.

776
01:03:04,840 --> 01:03:06,900
And they come back and they train everybody else.

777
01:03:08,200 --> 01:03:11,520
We're having very good success with our applications.

778
01:03:11,880 --> 01:03:14,060
We're seeing a significant increase in people

779
01:03:14,060 --> 01:03:15,460
who want to come and work for us.

780
01:03:16,280 --> 01:03:17,980
We want to retain those people.

781
01:03:18,360 --> 01:03:20,180
So we want to put them on a path

782
01:03:20,180 --> 01:03:22,620
for that they will continue to learn and grow.

783
01:03:23,100 --> 01:03:24,740
We are starting a leadership academy

784
01:03:24,740 --> 01:03:27,900
where we're going to train them how to manage people,

785
01:03:28,260 --> 01:03:30,580
how to be the best possible manager you can.

786
01:03:30,580 --> 01:03:36,600
how to deal with the media, how to do all of those things that a supervisor needs to do.

787
01:03:36,800 --> 01:03:41,420
Those are skill sets that you can take with you. Those are skill sets that the state's

788
01:03:41,420 --> 01:03:48,080
attorney's office can offer you, but we also want people to want to work here and stay here.

789
01:03:48,100 --> 01:03:55,100
So we're working very hard on morale. So yes, it's a challenge, but it's a challenge that I think

790
01:03:55,100 --> 01:03:56,680
where we're starting to see some traction.

791
01:03:57,260 --> 01:03:58,400
Good, good to hear.

792
01:03:59,520 --> 01:04:01,420
Want to shift a little bit to support staff,

793
01:04:01,480 --> 01:04:02,080
paralegals.

794
01:04:02,840 --> 01:04:07,320
So you mentioned earlier that you believe that it's the ASA,

795
01:04:07,680 --> 01:04:09,280
is that you may be need additional support.

796
01:04:10,000 --> 01:04:13,600
In the past, we've heard that the support staff

797
01:04:13,600 --> 01:04:17,340
is extremely needed just because of all

798
01:04:17,340 --> 01:04:21,140
of the administrative work and burden that ends up

799
01:04:21,140 --> 01:04:22,840
in the hands of ASAs.

800
01:04:22,840 --> 01:04:27,760
I'm assuming it's related to what you mentioned earlier regarding all of the video, all of the

801
01:04:27,760 --> 01:04:28,960
filing, all of that.

802
01:04:29,520 --> 01:04:36,360
So you're proposing instead of having that support staff be working directly with the ASAs,

803
01:04:36,420 --> 01:04:43,620
is that you create a whole different division and lab the forensics lab, and I believe you

804
01:04:43,620 --> 01:04:49,580
called it the forensic unit, to kind of handle that aspect, and then work, so it's centralized

805
01:04:49,580 --> 01:04:54,100
And then folks can reach out there, tap into that.

806
01:04:55,000 --> 01:05:03,280
So does that mean that this whole unit or the forensic lab is on new hires or are you tapping into staff again that are specialized?

807
01:05:03,840 --> 01:05:08,880
Now we'll be kind of shifted into this unit in which now folks are able to tap into that.

808
01:05:08,920 --> 01:05:18,580
Exactly. So we have interviewed and we found a supervisor for that unit to help us with this build.

809
01:05:18,580 --> 01:05:24,820
He was innovative, had ideas on what we could do right now before we have our technology that's necessary.

810
01:05:26,320 --> 01:05:30,020
So it will be people who are interested in it within the office.

811
01:05:30,100 --> 01:05:37,580
People who have sufficient felony trial experience to be useful in every single division of the office that needs to tap in.

812
01:05:38,580 --> 01:05:41,020
So we're hoping to keep it internal.

813
01:05:41,800 --> 01:05:44,000
A scientist will need to bring in a scientist.

814
01:05:44,320 --> 01:05:45,440
Because you said you only have one.

815
01:05:45,440 --> 01:05:53,220
We only have one. We could use another one. Yeah. Okay. So, do you foresee that that unit is going to be able to bulk up to the need?

816
01:05:53,760 --> 01:06:09,880
Yeah. So, you think there's enough interest internally? Yes. Okay. Do you have an estimate of the additional cost for either technology or equipment that is going to be needed or even space, right? Like having a physical space.

817
01:06:09,880 --> 01:06:17,200
Do you foresee that that will be absorbed within your budget or your ask of 2026 or is that something that you're additionally requesting?

818
01:06:17,880 --> 01:06:25,880
The physical space is we are looking at it to the end of that right now, but I'm going to turn that over to John on that specific ask.

819
01:06:26,080 --> 01:06:26,880
Thank you.

820
01:06:27,520 --> 01:06:32,740
Thank you, Commissioner John, right here in CFO. There are a couple components to it to your question.

821
01:06:32,740 --> 01:06:38,000
And so there's a capital component, and the office has made the capital request for some of the

822
01:06:38,000 --> 01:06:43,180
technology needed in order to address the digital evidence management that the state

823
01:06:43,180 --> 01:06:44,400
attorney referred to.

824
01:06:44,920 --> 01:06:51,100
There's a personnel component, so there are, in addition to the needed ASA, there's also a

825
01:06:51,100 --> 01:06:54,300
part of our request is for 50 more paralegal positions.

826
01:06:55,780 --> 01:07:01,300
And in doing, in making that request, we've also attempted to address the pay disparity between

827
01:07:01,300 --> 01:07:07,260
the state's attorney's office and the public defender's office because the difference in pay

828
01:07:07,260 --> 01:07:15,240
was so significant that we needed to address it. So those are the two major asks with respect

829
01:07:15,240 --> 01:07:20,580
to the fiscal 26 budget process. We're still in discussions, obviously, about what's going to

830
01:07:20,580 --> 01:07:24,420
look. You all have scheduled meetings, I believe August the week of August 11,

831
01:07:27,940 --> 01:07:39,120
So while we're waiting for this, sometimes it takes a while to get the equipment or the approval or maybe not of all of our asks are going to be included in this budget.

832
01:07:39,700 --> 01:07:47,660
Are we still going to be moving forward with the unit regardless if there's as we kind of transition into that model as opposed to the other model.

833
01:07:47,660 --> 01:07:57,620
So we have already, as I said, we selected the supervisor in there who can be the person that others tap into from all over the office.

834
01:07:58,160 --> 01:08:09,260
We also have two investigators who are in the digital forensics unit that are now trying to triage ways that we can get those cell phone dumps and that we can get video evidence,

835
01:08:09,260 --> 01:08:15,480
process in a timely manner to get it to our assays who can then get it to the defense.

836
01:08:15,860 --> 01:08:17,480
So we're moving forward.

837
01:08:17,480 --> 01:08:18,340
Okay, perfect.

838
01:08:19,000 --> 01:08:21,320
Can you remind me with the total amount of hours?

839
01:08:21,740 --> 01:08:27,200
I think you said a 197,000 hours, a hundred and 90,000.

840
01:08:27,540 --> 01:08:32,200
90 of video as opposed to Netflix 37,000 hours.

841
01:08:32,920 --> 01:08:36,260
Is that, is that just what the current case loader does that historically?

842
01:08:36,260 --> 01:08:43,680
Like you get more and more video every day. I mean we don't get rid of any necessarily of the case is not closed

843
01:08:43,680 --> 01:08:53,400
No, we have to retain it. Okay. Yes, is that by state statute and how long does that have to be maintained until the case is disposed of which

844
01:08:53,800 --> 01:09:03,720
I mean if it were heal it varies. So we have we have needs. So just just like the bottom right now. Yeah, it's just going to get bigger. Okay. Thank you

845
01:09:03,720 --> 01:09:33,700
Moving on to domestic violence. Again, thank you again so much for being with us last week and really walking us through, um, you know, the operations. You introduced the Bureau to a special victims Bureau, which is something that is, uh, is good. We talked to, um, uh, the sheriff, um, yesterday. I know they have their own, their their own type of kind of a special victims, um, division of sorts. Um, and they did, uh, you know, I asked them, it was their interest in any way of like collaborating or at least sharing

846
01:09:33,700 --> 01:09:38,820
resources information. They said yes. Has that been a conversation that you have started with other stakeholders?

847
01:09:39,400 --> 01:09:42,960
And then it's certainly just a share of softest, but just others that may have the same type of model.

848
01:09:43,420 --> 01:09:47,260
And there might be overlap. And then it's necessarily fully because you all have different

849
01:09:47,260 --> 01:09:51,740
you know mandates and different things that you have to handle. But just wondering what that looks like.

850
01:09:53,660 --> 01:09:58,480
Yeah, that's a question. So we do meet with all of our law enforcement partners on a regular basis.

851
01:09:58,660 --> 01:10:02,280
We meet with CPV and they also have a domestic violence unit.

852
01:10:02,280 --> 01:10:10,360
Now, we are working with the American Prosecutors Association to do a domestic violence summit in Chicago.

853
01:10:10,540 --> 01:10:14,800
The same way we did the machine gun conversion device summit in June.

854
01:10:16,040 --> 01:10:20,940
Those are important collaborations. That makes a difference if we are all

855
01:10:20,940 --> 01:10:25,520
growing in the same direction. We can make seismic change on this if we collaborate.

856
01:10:26,120 --> 01:10:31,920
So it's very important to us to consistently and routinely have meetings with all law enforcement

857
01:10:31,920 --> 01:10:39,400
personnel. Have you an I forgot to ask this last week? Have you kind of chance to look at the

858
01:10:39,400 --> 01:10:44,920
report and the recommendations that came out of the domestic violence committee that was formed

859
01:10:44,920 --> 01:10:51,300
by the Chief Judge in 2022? I'm not sure if you've had an agenda. The reason I'm asking is I know that

860
01:10:51,300 --> 01:10:56,640
there's interest in starting up the conversation and I think it would be very valuable to get the

861
01:10:56,640 --> 01:11:01,660
state attorney's office kind of perspective on it and whether there's any specific areas that we

862
01:11:01,660 --> 01:11:08,900
you need to change or maybe that have not fully been put into practice and what adjustments

863
01:11:08,900 --> 01:11:09,740
need to happen.

864
01:11:09,780 --> 01:11:13,700
As we move forward, there seems to be a lot of interest in general from the sport and

865
01:11:13,700 --> 01:11:20,620
other stakeholders to really move forward and again to make right by some of our survivors

866
01:11:20,620 --> 01:11:24,340
that are going through the system and actually providing support systems and part of that

867
01:11:24,340 --> 01:11:28,960
is really dissecting the different entities and seeing what works what doesn't and then how

868
01:11:28,960 --> 01:11:29,820
can we move forward.

869
01:11:29,820 --> 01:11:42,100
So, we do Judy Bryce, who is the judge who's in charge of domestic violence, we meet with her regularly, we talk about, you know, what is happening, what would work, what is and going to work.

870
01:11:42,920 --> 01:11:54,440
One of the issues that we're seeing is in domestic violence court at 555, 40% of the cases that they have there are stocking no contact orders, which have nothing to do with domestic violence.

871
01:11:54,440 --> 01:12:12,160
There, you know, they could be anything from a neighbor cut my bushes or it could be a myriad of things, they're they're clogging up the the workings over there and we have been talking to the chief judge as well as judge price about moving those out into a different

872
01:12:12,160 --> 01:12:18,120
to the Miss Demeter Quart rooms and to different courthouses around the community.

873
01:12:18,860 --> 01:12:21,840
We think that would be a significant step forward.

874
01:12:22,440 --> 01:12:23,920
We're hopeful to be getting that done.

875
01:12:24,560 --> 01:12:30,040
But to your point, yes, we absolutely need to be at the table and discussing things

876
01:12:30,040 --> 01:12:35,460
because working together, we can get a systems in place that work better for everybody.

877
01:12:36,000 --> 01:12:40,000
And if it's just us making our decisions or just the judiciary making their decisions,

878
01:12:40,000 --> 01:12:45,540
we are missing a huge component of what is going to take to make that work. So yes, we're absolutely

879
01:12:45,540 --> 01:12:52,060
amenable to that. Thank you. So my first budget amendment when I became a commissioner was to

880
01:12:52,060 --> 01:12:58,160
create a pilot program to have DV and sexual assault survivor navigators within the court houses.

881
01:12:58,940 --> 01:13:02,840
A few years later it was absorbed within the budget of the state attorney's office.

882
01:13:03,500 --> 01:13:07,760
Is that still something that is done as kind of separate? Or is that kind of integrated in

883
01:13:07,760 --> 01:13:11,940
their work that you're talking about. And have we grown that in any way? Because I think

884
01:13:11,940 --> 01:13:16,680
at the time it was just two positions. I know I want to make sure I give you the accurate

885
01:13:16,680 --> 01:13:23,100
information. But we do have victim witness personnel that are specialists in sexual assault

886
01:13:23,100 --> 01:13:33,210
and domestic violence, that have that. But I know that there was a specific question or we have,

887
01:13:41,570 --> 01:13:44,370
So, Commissioner, thank you for asking that question.

888
01:13:44,730 --> 01:13:49,990
What we have learned over the years is that a domestic violence survivor, when they first

889
01:13:49,990 --> 01:13:53,550
encounter the system, they need to have wraparound services.

890
01:13:53,730 --> 01:13:56,110
Just having a prosecutor is just not enough.

891
01:13:56,610 --> 01:14:00,090
They need to have a survivor advocate, advocating for them.

892
01:14:00,090 --> 01:14:03,850
they need private legal service providers advocating for them,

893
01:14:04,010 --> 01:14:05,230
they need safety plans.

894
01:14:05,990 --> 01:14:10,750
So back in 1993, 1995, there was the tech,

895
01:14:10,830 --> 01:14:13,450
the targeted abusers call, that created that model

896
01:14:13,450 --> 01:14:15,410
where there was a wraparound services,

897
01:14:16,610 --> 01:14:20,530
a state's attorney, private investigator from state's

898
01:14:20,530 --> 01:14:23,770
attorney's office, victim witness, private social service

899
01:14:23,770 --> 01:14:26,270
provider, as well as a legal service provider.

900
01:14:26,830 --> 01:14:29,430
We are in the process right now of renewing that grant

901
01:14:29,430 --> 01:14:31,810
that goes all the way back from 1995,

902
01:14:32,310 --> 01:14:34,450
that the University of Chicago has just on a plan

903
01:14:34,450 --> 01:14:37,190
that indicates that that is the promising practice

904
01:14:37,190 --> 01:14:41,210
still, that that is the best way to service victims.

905
01:14:42,070 --> 01:14:44,170
I believe that what you are referring to

906
01:14:44,170 --> 01:14:46,410
is that we do have a survivor specialist

907
01:14:46,870 --> 01:14:48,910
that is over at our domestic violence,

908
01:14:49,110 --> 01:14:51,730
but one is not enough, we need more.

909
01:14:52,070 --> 01:14:55,570
And so the best way for any victim

910
01:14:55,570 --> 01:14:58,670
that is in a domestic violence situation,

911
01:14:58,670 --> 01:14:59,970
and they are best.

912
01:15:00,000 --> 01:15:07,760
First served when they are ready to leave that relationship and they're best served when they have the services in support when they're ready to make that decision.

913
01:15:08,140 --> 01:15:21,720
Right. Absolutely. And I think I always say that when survivor enters the courthouse is often times that that very pivotal moment where either they receive service, they feel supported and they've moved forward.

914
01:15:21,720 --> 01:15:28,400
or they decide, you know what, maybe this is, I'm just fighting a better piece than I can actually

915
01:15:28,400 --> 01:15:34,280
chew and it creates a very vulnerable situation for the survivors and their family members,

916
01:15:34,300 --> 01:15:39,280
especially if they have children. So I always believe that that support system in that touch

917
01:15:39,280 --> 01:15:44,900
point is extremely important. So I would, you know, obviously encourage us to figure out how to really

918
01:15:44,900 --> 01:15:50,220
be able to build that up and create that. Just not, not just enough for that moral support,

919
01:15:50,220 --> 01:15:54,520
But even when we do receive, we talked about the 36 pages, right, of an older protection,

920
01:15:55,120 --> 01:16:00,680
how cumbersome that is and how folks can really struggle and oftentimes when they step in,

921
01:16:00,880 --> 01:16:04,920
they're being asked, you're filing this through civil, criminal, and oftentimes they don't even know.

922
01:16:04,920 --> 01:16:09,660
They don't know the difference. So if they don't know the implications, if they are not walked through

923
01:16:09,660 --> 01:16:15,400
specifically because we have so many things on our plate, it's kind of hard to kind of sit there with

924
01:16:15,400 --> 01:16:22,020
someone and explain it fully, that can really determine the case in the applications in the

925
01:16:22,020 --> 01:16:22,300
long run.

926
01:16:22,780 --> 01:16:28,360
So I think that those are little areas, and I feel like maybe lowering your fruit of adjustments

927
01:16:28,360 --> 01:16:33,200
that we can definitely kind of do and work with all stakeholders to be able to address.

928
01:16:33,960 --> 01:16:36,020
So that would be a suggestion on that end.

929
01:16:36,440 --> 01:16:41,840
And Commissioner Rihar is seeing that when a survivor is ready to leave that abusive relationship

930
01:16:41,840 --> 01:16:43,820
it is also when she is the most vulnerable.

931
01:16:44,180 --> 01:16:44,460
Absolutely.

932
01:16:44,460 --> 01:16:50,740
So, you're absolutely right that that is the point in time that we need to make sure she's getting wrap around services.

933
01:16:50,960 --> 01:16:59,720
I just want to state that we do have two survivor engagement specialists, one at 5555, one in the Markham courthouse, and we are seeking the third in the budget.

934
01:17:00,000 --> 01:17:01,460
Okay, perfect. Thank you so much.

935
01:17:06,400 --> 01:17:08,160
Assistant states, turning on a demo copolis.

936
01:17:08,600 --> 01:17:09,400
Thank you.

937
01:17:09,620 --> 01:17:11,980
My final question is in regards to grants.

938
01:17:11,980 --> 01:17:19,440
So we know that the office receives numerous grants both from federal and also federal either

939
01:17:19,440 --> 01:17:21,140
direct or pass throughs.

940
01:17:21,180 --> 01:17:26,980
So has your office evaluated the impact on these grants and potential changes in what

941
01:17:26,980 --> 01:17:30,040
can be in jeopardy if there is any callbacks?

942
01:17:32,000 --> 01:17:38,080
John Hurrah and Chief Financial Officer, Commissioner, we haven't seen any evidence of that yet.

943
01:17:38,080 --> 01:17:42,840
We're concerned obviously as everyone is in the with all the uncertainty coming out of the federal government.

944
01:17:43,760 --> 01:17:49,160
It's sort of a case by case basis, we are applying for grant opportunities as they become available.

945
01:17:50,620 --> 01:17:54,500
There was a time when there were no opportunities available.

946
01:17:54,780 --> 01:17:57,300
We're now in the process, I think we have two pending applications.

947
01:17:59,040 --> 01:18:03,480
And we're fortunate in the sense that we have a large portfolio in terms of numbers.

948
01:18:03,480 --> 01:18:09,640
but and so we're fairly well diversified and we just have to wait and see as all of the

949
01:18:09,640 --> 01:18:16,280
stakeholders do to to see what the outcomes are with those awards. Okay. Do we have any

950
01:18:16,280 --> 01:18:22,300
contingency plans for if there are any specific areas that we think may be more vulnerable than

951
01:18:22,300 --> 01:18:28,540
others? So if we're working with the county on identifying where those vulnerabilities might be,

952
01:18:29,120 --> 01:18:36,920
We're not aware of any specific high risk areas with respect to our grant portfolio, but we are in

953
01:18:36,920 --> 01:18:43,000
constant communication with the county's grant budget team in order to understand what might

954
01:18:43,000 --> 01:18:48,480
be the way to pivot in order to deal with the loss of anything that might be substantial

955
01:18:48,480 --> 01:18:49,420
to our operations.

956
01:18:49,660 --> 01:18:50,320
Okay, perfect.

957
01:18:50,460 --> 01:18:50,900
Thank you.

958
01:18:50,920 --> 01:18:51,700
Thank you.

959
01:18:51,700 --> 01:18:52,000
Thank you.

960
01:18:52,000 --> 01:18:52,100
Thank you.

961
01:18:52,320 --> 01:18:52,760
Thank you.

962
01:18:52,760 --> 01:18:53,440
Thank you.

963
01:18:55,330 --> 01:18:56,730
Commissioner Miller.

964
01:19:02,400 --> 01:19:06,780
Thank you so much, Chairman. I appreciate it. And thank you so much

965
01:19:06,780 --> 01:19:13,740
States Attorney. I appreciate you as well. And I appreciate all the information you provided us during the hearing last week.

966
01:19:14,740 --> 01:19:20,260
And all of the updates based off of the data that you've collected is just so important.

967
01:19:21,300 --> 01:19:27,100
One of the questions I wanted to get a little bit further explanation on was you talked about the

968
01:19:27,100 --> 01:19:40,520
having no contact with the domestic relations court? Is that something you can explain? Is there a place that that fits into some of the other things you'd be requesting in your future?

969
01:19:41,160 --> 01:19:47,380
Sure. It wasn't that we don't have contact with them. It was that we didn't have access to that information.

970
01:19:47,380 --> 01:19:53,420
So, for example, a divorce file was sealed to us.

971
01:19:53,600 --> 01:19:54,480
We could not see it.

972
01:19:54,500 --> 01:20:00,480
If there was a civil order protection contingent with a divorce, we couldn't see it

973
01:20:00,480 --> 01:20:03,140
for purposes of first parent's court.

974
01:20:03,380 --> 01:20:10,300
That was information that was blocked and not allowed to be utilized by us.

975
01:20:10,580 --> 01:20:15,120
So, we realized that that was an enormous problem quickly.

976
01:20:15,120 --> 01:20:24,880
I think, in January and we immediately went to the Chief Judge's office to make sure that we had those avenues of information open to us.

977
01:20:25,220 --> 01:20:29,520
And the Chief Judge's office was amenable and we got access to it very, very quickly.

978
01:20:30,340 --> 01:20:34,200
So we do have access to that information now when we need it.

979
01:20:36,080 --> 01:20:38,740
Great. Okay. I just wanted to follow up on that point.

980
01:20:38,740 --> 01:20:40,380
So thank you. I don't have anything else.

981
01:20:40,540 --> 01:20:41,520
Thank you.

982
01:20:41,520 --> 01:20:46,060
most of it. I know we have some other follow-up items that I'll be looking forward to. Appreciate it.

983
01:20:47,300 --> 01:20:52,440
Commissioner Aguilar. Thank you, Chairman and Attorney General. Thank you for being here.

984
01:20:53,220 --> 01:21:01,000
You promoted me. Sorry. I'm sorry. Okay.

985
01:21:01,000 --> 01:21:06,400
Right. We're good. You know, when I was in Springfield, I sponsored many crime bills and one of

986
01:21:06,400 --> 01:21:11,340
a few of them were confiscation of assets and bank accounts and so forth.

987
01:21:11,700 --> 01:21:16,100
I believe that like you said, hit him in the pocketbook and slow them down and breaks

988
01:21:16,100 --> 01:21:16,800
up their network.

989
01:21:17,640 --> 01:21:21,020
The only thing I'll come up with ever went to jail on was tax evasion.

990
01:21:22,160 --> 01:21:24,060
So it will utilize every tool we have.

991
01:21:24,060 --> 01:21:30,580
Hit him in the pocketbook and in terms of juvenile, usually a child is not born criminal.

992
01:21:30,780 --> 01:21:34,380
Usually there's an adult involved, it's kind of like a fake end of you familiar with child

993
01:21:34,380 --> 01:21:41,520
seconds that's behind that, and is there additional charges if you find the adult who's

994
01:21:41,520 --> 01:21:46,180
involved in putting up children to do crime? Is there additional charges at the end of

995
01:21:46,180 --> 01:21:53,160
each or can face and what's the change is of proving it and the cost behind all that?

996
01:21:53,600 --> 01:22:00,340
It's difficult for that, for unless you show a direct connection that they put somebody up

997
01:22:00,340 --> 01:22:06,260
it to do it, has it been done absolutely, is it something that we see every day, not really,

998
01:22:08,460 --> 01:22:08,460
but

999
01:22:08,460 --> 01:22:15,060
the juvenile crime is a huge problem right now and I think we're all very aware that a child who's

1000
01:22:15,060 --> 01:22:20,160
12 years old doesn't come up with the idea to go car jacks on one on their own. I think we know that.

1001
01:22:20,200 --> 01:22:25,680
I think you mentioned there's an increase of child above. We haven't seen an increase. We've seen

1002
01:22:25,680 --> 01:22:31,660
decrease in crime all over the system and almost every category including

1003
01:22:31,660 --> 01:22:39,260
carjacking. So what we want to do is have an approach that gives kids a

1004
01:22:39,260 --> 01:22:44,840
different alternative. And most of our ideas with regard to this pilot program

1005
01:22:44,840 --> 01:22:50,540
emanated from us being moms. I have four children. I raise them through their

1006
01:22:50,540 --> 01:22:57,440
age years, that's not easy, but a lot of times to get a teenager through those turbulent

1007
01:22:57,440 --> 01:23:02,140
times, you just have to keep them busy. And that's what this pilot does. He keeps them

1008
01:23:02,140 --> 01:23:07,440
busy from 8 a.m. until 10 p.m. when they're most likely to get in trouble. But it also

1009
01:23:07,440 --> 01:23:13,520
keeps them busy in a way that helps them with learning enrichment, job training, computer

1010
01:23:13,520 --> 01:23:19,460
programming, and cognitive behavioral therapy. That's what we're focused on is making sure

1011
01:23:19,460 --> 01:23:26,100
we get them turned around. Not just punished. Absolutely. That's one of which is mentioned at

1012
01:23:26,100 --> 01:23:35,400
today's the anniversary of Sheriff Deputy Officer Raphael Woodlaw who the end of watch happened

1013
01:23:35,400 --> 01:23:43,400
the year ago today in July of 2024. My condolences to the family, the Woodlaw family. Thank you.

1014
01:23:46,510 --> 01:23:49,090
Thank you, Commissioner. Commissioner Trevor.

1015
01:23:50,410 --> 01:23:51,130
Thank you chair.

1016
01:23:52,810 --> 01:23:55,150
And thank you, uh,

1017
01:23:56,230 --> 01:23:57,110
Stacey attorney, uh,

1018
01:23:57,390 --> 01:23:59,970
O'Neill Burke for all the great work they're doing.

1019
01:24:03,070 --> 01:24:05,810
we've heard from some of the other, uh,

1020
01:24:07,730 --> 01:24:10,410
parts of county government that are involved in law enforcement.

1021
01:24:12,210 --> 01:24:23,110
And one of the things that strikes me is there's a little bit of a sort of a toothpaste tube thing going on that you push down a one end and it comes up in somebody else's budget.

1022
01:24:23,810 --> 01:24:36,330
We heard from the public defender about how some of the priorities you're setting, you know, has some impact on their budget because they've had to pay over time for attorneys in certain cases.

1023
01:24:38,010 --> 01:24:54,210
And, you know, we are all dealing with finite budgets, and I'm looking at your budget for budget numbers for the past year, and I know you've prioritized a done violence, you've prioritized these switches, which I think is really important.

1024
01:24:55,970 --> 01:25:07,670
Are there aspects of your budget things that you have essentially de-emphasized over your predecessor in order to sort of shift resources into this?

1025
01:25:08,570 --> 01:25:13,910
Not that I'm coming to off-hand, but I'm going to defer to John. Have we de-emphasized anything?

1026
01:25:15,430 --> 01:25:23,870
No, Commissioner. We haven't de-emphasized anything. It's really been managing across the office and making do with what we have in the budget.

1027
01:25:23,870 --> 01:25:29,130
think is the best way to put it. That doesn't mean that we are fully staffed or even close.

1028
01:25:30,370 --> 01:25:35,970
There are many activities that will benefit either from technology investments and enhancements

1029
01:25:35,970 --> 01:25:43,170
and efficiency as we move forward or by sheer adding positions as we've indicated in our budget

1030
01:25:43,170 --> 01:25:50,290
request. We understand there are limited resources, but the core activities have to get done and

1031
01:25:50,290 --> 01:25:57,010
And we're working on how do we describe the impact on the movement of cases and the

1032
01:25:57,010 --> 01:26:01,810
disposition times of cases as we move forward in the budget process.

1033
01:26:02,670 --> 01:26:07,990
I think the public defender made reference to describing workload rather than case loads

1034
01:26:08,720 --> 01:26:10,450
in his remarks this morning.

1035
01:26:10,650 --> 01:26:15,950
And I think we've taken the same approach internally to look at what are the real workload

1036
01:26:15,950 --> 01:26:24,430
drivers because technology has protects a lot but it also demands a lot in order to manage

1037
01:26:24,430 --> 01:26:30,130
it and to get the job done right and those resources we don't have them right now and

1038
01:26:30,130 --> 01:26:34,670
that's how we are trying to figure out how we measure that workload impact because it

1039
01:26:34,670 --> 01:26:40,810
may be fewer cases but the quantity of information and evidence demands the resources in order

1040
01:26:40,810 --> 01:26:42,350
to still manage those cases.

1041
01:26:43,630 --> 01:26:50,790
One other question that I've got, I'm this actually comes out of, meaning that your office

1042
01:26:50,790 --> 01:26:56,730
had with LGBTQ elective officials earlier this year, and it also kind of goes to setting

1043
01:26:56,730 --> 01:27:03,830
priorities as well as what is required by state law, and this has to do with filing objections

1044
01:27:03,830 --> 01:27:13,610
to name changes. And just to describe the issue briefly is that your office is filing objections

1045
01:27:13,610 --> 01:27:18,650
to name changes for people who have criminal records.

1046
01:27:19,570 --> 01:27:21,350
Fell any criminal records?

1047
01:27:21,410 --> 01:27:29,110
Fell any criminal records and this is somewhat, I wouldn't say disproportionately, but it

1048
01:27:29,110 --> 01:27:34,930
is having an impact on transgender people who are trying to change their names.

1049
01:27:34,930 --> 01:27:47,290
It's a population that tends to have higher than average rates of having criminal convictions in their past,

1050
01:27:49,630 --> 01:28:02,990
and when those objections are filed, the people who are trying to change their names face additional bureaucratic and financial hurdles to essentially achieve that.

1051
01:28:02,990 --> 01:28:10,610
Um, and I'm trying to, this meeting was several months ago, but the way it was described

1052
01:28:10,610 --> 01:28:19,810
by your staff is that you are required to do this, and also that you have several attorneys

1053
01:28:19,810 --> 01:28:23,830
on staff that are, this is, this is a big chunk of their work.

1054
01:28:23,870 --> 01:28:26,610
And I'm wondering if you can describe that process a little bit.

1055
01:28:26,790 --> 01:28:27,510
Sure, absolutely.

1056
01:28:27,730 --> 01:28:31,190
We've done a lot of work on this, and I want to bring up our expert on this.

1057
01:28:32,610 --> 01:28:34,230
to answer this question.

1058
01:28:38,600 --> 01:28:39,000
Good afternoon.

1059
01:28:39,000 --> 01:28:39,960
My name is Eve Atloysson.

1060
01:28:40,840 --> 01:28:42,140
I work for the state's attorney's office.

1061
01:28:42,300 --> 01:28:43,200
Thank you for your question.

1062
01:28:43,940 --> 01:28:47,600
I participated in several meetings with various elected,

1063
01:28:48,160 --> 01:28:50,170
some attorneys that were accompanied them.

1064
01:28:50,960 --> 01:28:52,560
I believe when it was all set and done,

1065
01:28:52,680 --> 01:28:57,380
we have three meetings hearing about the issues related to name change.

1066
01:28:57,840 --> 01:29:04,940
One thing I do want to emphasize now is that the individuals who

1067
01:29:04,940 --> 01:29:13,700
change petition is at issue, do much more than name changes. So that is not staff that is just

1068
01:29:13,700 --> 01:29:18,420
allocated to that process. They are part of our civil division. They have full caseloads

1069
01:29:18,420 --> 01:29:24,740
on top of that additional responsibility. Generally, when we have attorneys that go into those

1070
01:29:24,740 --> 01:29:32,300
court room on that issue, they are asked or invited in by the judge due to a voluntary disclosure

1071
01:29:32,300 --> 01:29:38,160
by the individual seeking an EM change that they have some criminal background.

1072
01:29:39,280 --> 01:29:47,400
After the meetings and learning more about some of the hurdles that were being faced by individuals trying to get an EM change,

1073
01:29:48,400 --> 01:29:53,920
we took additional steps to do research and understand various issues with the process.

1074
01:29:54,320 --> 01:29:59,420
One thing that we did was we met with several members of the Illinois State Police.

1075
01:29:59,420 --> 01:29:59,840
Okay.

1076
01:30:00,000 --> 01:30:09,200
They are the entity that we would refer people to if they had indicated that they had a prior of

1077
01:30:10,680 --> 01:30:16,520
criminal background. We did learn through that process that the information that was

1078
01:30:16,520 --> 01:30:23,060
gleaned from the Illinois State Police was information solely based on a person's Illinois criminal history.

1079
01:30:23,060 --> 01:30:30,400
So, given all of the information that we received, we have now worked over the last couple

1080
01:30:30,400 --> 01:30:36,380
of months alongside with the first assistant, other members of our staff and our civil

1081
01:30:36,380 --> 01:30:42,960
division to create a proposed change to our policy or our process.

1082
01:30:43,140 --> 01:30:48,240
We did not have a written policy or our process on how we do that so that it will be more

1083
01:30:48,240 --> 01:30:54,020
and more efficient for individuals who are seeking that process as you know the state's

1084
01:30:54,020 --> 01:31:00,000
attorney's office is a very big entity. So turning a ship like that does take some time

1085
01:31:00,000 --> 01:31:07,260
and also requires several layers of review. All aspects of our office interact with each other

1086
01:31:07,260 --> 01:31:15,260
so we need to ensure that we are able to implement change in a seamless fashion. One thing I do want

1087
01:31:15,260 --> 01:31:21,260
emphasize that the state's attorney has spoken of before is our civil attorneys do not always

1088
01:31:21,260 --> 01:31:28,860
have access to certain records that are important for this process. So a big chunk of the work

1089
01:31:28,860 --> 01:31:34,380
we're doing is figuring out how to ensure that our ASA has have access to information they need,

1090
01:31:34,820 --> 01:31:40,100
so they can make the best decisions possible and how we'll proceed when a name change petition

1091
01:31:40,100 --> 01:31:44,920
has been filed. We've been alerted by the judge and we know there is some criminal background.

1092
01:31:45,260 --> 01:31:52,220
We are trying very hard to balance two interests that don't have to be competing, but do have to be balanced.

1093
01:31:52,800 --> 01:32:03,360
And though that interest is ensuring that we can track if there is serious felony conduct in a person's background,

1094
01:32:03,820 --> 01:32:10,960
or conduct that may be misdemeanor conduct, but something like a domestic battery, which we are concerned about violence.

1095
01:32:10,960 --> 01:32:14,960
We want to make sure that we are securely tracking the change in name.

1096
01:32:15,280 --> 01:32:33,960
However, we want to balance that with ensuring that individuals who are seeking to get a name change for purely appropriate reasons are not being required to jump through a lot of obstacles in hopes that others who may not voluntarily disclose information do not.

1097
01:32:34,700 --> 01:32:40,880
So after all of those meetings in that entire process we did recognize that there are ways we could do this better.

1098
01:32:40,880 --> 01:32:49,700
and we are working now to finalize and implement those changes that we think are reasonable and appropriate based on the circumstances in front of us.

1099
01:32:50,540 --> 01:32:53,620
I truly appreciate that, but I also want to point out one thing.

1100
01:32:54,000 --> 01:33:00,400
You mentioned that they were acting in information that was voluntarily disclosed.

1101
01:33:01,420 --> 01:33:08,340
The form that people are filing for these name changes actually has that question on it.

1102
01:33:08,340 --> 01:33:18,300
So essentially either you voluntarily disclose that you have a criminal history or whatever, or, you know, you're...

1103
01:33:20,330 --> 01:33:35,030
You're committing a crime right there and then one of the things that came out during those discussions, a question that I asked is, whether or not, women who are filing for a name change after marriage are asked the same question.

1104
01:33:35,230 --> 01:33:37,270
And from what I understand, they are not.

1105
01:33:38,550 --> 01:33:40,430
Sorry, go ahead.

1106
01:33:41,470 --> 01:33:49,590
And the concern about name changes, or the potential concern for name changes is that, you know,

1107
01:33:49,630 --> 01:33:55,890
people are evading full of by changing their name, and there's a, there's a, there's a, there's like,

1108
01:33:56,230 --> 01:34:04,650
change your name after marriage could accomplish the same thing in theory, and so I just wanted to point out that this came out of a concern.

1109
01:34:04,650 --> 01:34:13,330
I think amongst the people in call is that we are treating transgender people in a different

1110
01:34:13,330 --> 01:34:18,290
man, seeking to change as a different man or than we treat people who are seeking to

1111
01:34:18,290 --> 01:34:24,810
change as for more culturally accepted reasons. So I just wanted to point that out, but I

1112
01:34:24,810 --> 01:34:31,930
do appreciate the meetings that you had with us and the efforts that your office is doing. So thank

1113
01:34:31,930 --> 01:34:39,770
Thank you and I just want to say that I appreciate that note that was a topic of conversation that we did discuss.

1114
01:34:40,650 --> 01:35:01,230
We are following this statutory requirements. Currently the statute provides a process where certain name change positions then come to our office and then they are in our hands and we start the process of determining how we're going to handle those.

1115
01:35:01,230 --> 01:35:06,270
It's if that juncture that we are working to make what I think is some very positive change.

1116
01:35:06,570 --> 01:35:13,010
I do want to know that when this was brought to our attention by you and several other

1117
01:35:13,010 --> 01:35:19,630
elected and we appreciated the feedback, we were working off of a continuation of the process

1118
01:35:19,630 --> 01:35:25,550
that had previously been implemented by the prior administration. We had not been alerted

1119
01:35:25,550 --> 01:35:32,710
prior to that that there were any concerns or issues with that process. So we do appreciate that

1120
01:35:32,710 --> 01:35:37,830
we got that alert from all of you and we have been working very diligently to try to do better.

1121
01:35:38,150 --> 01:35:42,530
And again, I appreciate that. I also want to note that this is a problem that also needs

1122
01:35:42,530 --> 01:35:48,230
solution at the state level and that there are people working on it. Yeah. Thank you very much. Thank you.

1123
01:35:48,370 --> 01:35:49,110
Those are all my questions.

1124
01:35:56,260 --> 01:35:58,080
Good afternoon. Good afternoon.

1125
01:35:59,520 --> 01:36:06,360
You know, everyone here knows that prior to this job, I was a classroom teacher for a couple of decades.

1126
01:36:07,080 --> 01:36:11,140
So I'd like for you to share a little bit more about this choose to change program and specifically,

1127
01:36:12,000 --> 01:36:14,880
who are you in partnership with at CPS?

1128
01:36:16,360 --> 01:36:20,660
What is the financial ask of implementing this program?

1129
01:36:20,660 --> 01:36:30,440
And where would the program actually be implemented, specifically is that a facility, a school just the details of the choose to change program?

1130
01:36:31,040 --> 01:36:32,720
I'm going to hand it over to Evan again.

1131
01:36:33,760 --> 01:36:37,940
I'm so grateful that you asked that question. I love talking about this.

1132
01:36:38,180 --> 01:36:39,500
If that was on again.

1133
01:36:40,480 --> 01:36:46,140
The choose for change program is implemented in some schools throughout the Chicago Public School system.

1134
01:36:46,140 --> 01:36:55,100
The pilot that the state's attorney had referenced is the pilot that is focused on one court calendar in juvenile court that covers the 10th

1135
01:36:55,840 --> 01:37:03,140
Police District in the city of Chicago. The 10th district crosses two communities, North Laundail and little village.

1136
01:37:03,940 --> 01:37:12,480
We, during the process of transition, this was an idea that the state's attorney had at the beginning of her campaign.

1137
01:37:12,480 --> 01:37:15,800
And she, I'm speaking for you, but I'm monorole.

1138
01:37:17,500 --> 01:37:24,860
She really believed that we needed to try more innovative, we needed to have more innovative

1139
01:37:24,860 --> 01:37:29,780
efforts for dealing with juveniles that were committing very serious crime.

1140
01:37:30,120 --> 01:37:33,560
So one thing I want to emphasize, and I will answer your question, but I think it's important

1141
01:37:33,560 --> 01:37:39,360
to give you some context, is that for this pilot program, the individuals who are eligible

1142
01:37:39,360 --> 01:37:47,880
are males in that particular court calendar that are high school age and have committed

1143
01:37:47,880 --> 01:37:55,760
a felony offense that would be detainable. So we are looking at children that by virtue of

1144
01:37:55,760 --> 01:38:01,000
their conduct we would be seeking detention and this is an alternative to that. There are two

1145
01:38:01,000 --> 01:38:09,000
crimes that their ineligible murder and sexual assault. The providers can't handle those types of

1146
01:38:09,000 --> 01:38:12,080
serious crimes that you can think of, carjacking,

1147
01:38:12,360 --> 01:38:14,800
because that's an MCD.

1148
01:38:15,220 --> 01:38:17,420
Those types of cases are eligible.

1149
01:38:20,360 --> 01:38:23,300
We worked to develop the program with several partners.

1150
01:38:23,800 --> 01:38:26,240
We had Jadien Tau from the Chicago Public Schools

1151
01:38:26,240 --> 01:38:29,700
who has since left and retired and is now working as a consultant.

1152
01:38:30,100 --> 01:38:34,880
She's actually working with us as a project manager on this project.

1153
01:38:35,100 --> 01:38:38,740
She has worked with individuals in CPS

1154
01:38:38,740 --> 01:38:41,220
who are in the juvenile court system.

1155
01:38:41,880 --> 01:38:45,560
We've also partnered with two service providers

1156
01:38:45,560 --> 01:38:49,420
in the Northland ill community and a little village community.

1157
01:38:49,820 --> 01:38:52,900
The Northland ill service provider is firehouse arts council.

1158
01:38:53,900 --> 01:38:56,840
The little village provider is new life centers.

1159
01:38:57,360 --> 01:38:59,960
New life centers is extremely integrated

1160
01:38:59,960 --> 01:39:02,120
in the choose for change programming,

1161
01:39:02,740 --> 01:39:04,900
particularly at fairer good high school.

1162
01:39:05,560 --> 01:39:07,400
And in that Northland ill community,

1163
01:39:07,400 --> 01:39:09,540
there are several high schools that offer

1164
01:39:09,540 --> 01:39:10,900
choose for change programming.

1165
01:39:11,540 --> 01:39:14,220
The reason why we wanted to implement that in the process

1166
01:39:14,220 --> 01:39:17,820
is it gives children who are in that programming

1167
01:39:17,820 --> 01:39:19,860
a running start through their day

1168
01:39:19,860 --> 01:39:22,300
because they are getting all of the support at school

1169
01:39:22,300 --> 01:39:24,820
and the state's attorney's idea is

1170
01:39:24,820 --> 01:39:27,620
if that we had juveniles getting that support at school

1171
01:39:27,620 --> 01:39:30,500
and that was carried through an after school programming

1172
01:39:30,500 --> 01:39:33,600
that was within the year with the choose for change model

1173
01:39:33,600 --> 01:39:35,560
and piggybacked on that model

1174
01:39:35,560 --> 01:39:39,040
that we could successfully turn behaviors around.

1175
01:39:40,100 --> 01:39:42,780
The proposal that we have right now,

1176
01:39:42,780 --> 01:39:46,780
which we have been working very closely with the JAC

1177
01:39:46,780 --> 01:39:50,700
to get funding, as well as outside funders.

1178
01:39:51,820 --> 01:39:56,380
The proposal creates a system where,

1179
01:39:56,400 --> 01:39:58,860
and if a juvenile comes into court,

1180
01:39:59,300 --> 01:40:01,040
and we would be seeking detention,

1181
01:40:01,680 --> 01:40:04,280
we would be making an offer to their public defender

1182
01:40:04,280 --> 01:40:11,260
them to participate in this programming. The offer requires that that juvenile submit to an

1183
01:40:11,260 --> 01:40:18,100
educational assessment by the CPS personnel that is present in juvenile court. The educational

1184
01:40:18,100 --> 01:40:24,080
assessment is to figure out how we get that student in school. The programming does not require

1185
01:40:24,600 --> 01:40:34,260
that a child go to HUS for change school, although it is encouraged. We want to make sure that we

1186
01:40:34,260 --> 01:40:40,600
child be enrolled in school and that they're being agreement that attendance and participation

1187
01:40:40,600 --> 01:40:44,800
and conduct in school can be reported into the juvenile court system.

1188
01:40:46,020 --> 01:40:52,500
Once the child goes through the educational assessment based on geography, they will then

1189
01:40:52,500 --> 01:40:56,360
be referred to either new life or firehouse arts council.

1190
01:40:56,700 --> 01:41:00,840
The reason why we picked that court calendar and we picked the time to district is because

1191
01:41:00,840 --> 01:41:06,640
so close to juvenile court that our service providers can actually get representatives to juvenile

1192
01:41:06,640 --> 01:41:13,020
court for a soft handoff approach for that youth. We have partnered with pre-trial services

1193
01:41:13,020 --> 01:41:18,600
in juvenile court. We've partnered with the juvenile court judges. We have presented to the

1194
01:41:18,600 --> 01:41:25,560
public defender's office and we are ultimately, as I said, seeking funding through the JAC and

1195
01:41:25,560 --> 01:41:31,620
We're really, we're working hard towards a grant and if you want detailed information on what

1196
01:41:31,620 --> 01:41:35,620
that funding looks like, I'll at step out of my seat and turn it over to John Hurricane.

1197
01:41:36,560 --> 01:41:37,740
But that has been the process.

1198
01:41:37,960 --> 01:41:45,940
In addition, we did partner with representatives from Chicago Credit, Ernie Duncan and some of his staff.

1199
01:41:46,000 --> 01:41:48,860
They participated in some of the program modeling.

1200
01:41:48,860 --> 01:41:53,440
We also had the University of Chicago Crime Lab participate.

1201
01:41:54,060 --> 01:41:59,340
They were going to be doing tracking and checking for efficacy throughout our process.

1202
01:42:00,020 --> 01:42:07,200
And we also as I indicated before partnered with new life and firehouse to develop that after school programming.

1203
01:42:08,480 --> 01:42:16,520
So who's working with the young people during the school hours and what is the projected amount you're requesting through Jacy?

1204
01:42:16,520 --> 01:42:18,640
John, do you have the exact number?

1205
01:42:19,260 --> 01:42:20,960
I'm going to switch with John for that one.

1206
01:42:24,240 --> 01:42:25,820
John, hurry ahead and chief financial officer.

1207
01:42:26,080 --> 01:42:31,320
Commissioner, it's a little more than $900,000 for the first year of the pilot program.

1208
01:42:32,820 --> 01:42:36,740
The two contract request will be before this committee at the September board meeting,

1209
01:42:36,960 --> 01:42:38,760
so we've already gone through procurement,

1210
01:42:39,560 --> 01:42:45,260
and those two contract requests have been referred to the finance committee for the September board meeting.

1211
01:42:45,260 --> 01:42:49,260
So there will be a great deal of information available then.

1212
01:42:49,380 --> 01:42:55,200
We're also still working on the funding agreement with the Justice Advisory Council.

1213
01:42:57,080 --> 01:43:02,260
We have traded drafts, but our hope is that will also be presented to the board

1214
01:43:02,260 --> 01:43:07,180
at the September meeting to get everything approved at the same time.

1215
01:43:07,580 --> 01:43:15,040
Yes, because I would be interested in what the $900,000 is for if the locations are already established.

1216
01:43:15,040 --> 01:43:20,860
community based organizations are already established so the program has the place to be housed

1217
01:43:20,860 --> 01:43:27,140
and then I think there's some component I wasn't completely clear that's taking place at the actual school.

1218
01:43:27,880 --> 01:43:33,040
So I'm curious as to what the $900,000 would cover.

1219
01:43:33,940 --> 01:43:40,120
Commissioner the budgets are that's the maximum amount of funding the budgets are sort of tiered based upon

1220
01:43:40,120 --> 01:43:45,320
The number of referrals into the program, I don't have the specific data with me right now.

1221
01:43:45,780 --> 01:43:48,780
We will be presenting on that as I said at the September board meeting,

1222
01:43:49,740 --> 01:43:55,080
because those budgets are included in the contracts that we've presented for approval.

1223
01:43:56,220 --> 01:44:04,380
But they are for addition of personnel primarily in order to deal with the numbers of youth that may be referred.

1224
01:44:04,380 --> 01:44:11,260
and I think it's in tears of five or so youth that the costs would escalate based upon the

1225
01:44:11,260 --> 01:44:14,920
demands upon each of the programs, but we can get you more information about that.

1226
01:44:14,920 --> 01:44:18,180
Please, too, because did you just say that the primarily is that we're staffing?

1227
01:44:19,300 --> 01:44:23,900
Yeah, it's primarily for people. I think the vet can speak more to that one.

1228
01:44:24,140 --> 01:44:27,120
It's like a hot seat after it just keeps going back and forth.

1229
01:44:27,120 --> 01:44:34,180
Yeah. So the after school programming component would offer five days a week of after school

1230
01:44:34,180 --> 01:44:41,720
services for each juvenile for a total of up to 20 hours per week. So the goal here is to have

1231
01:44:41,720 --> 01:44:46,280
the juvenile in school all day potentially and choose for a change program that might not always be

1232
01:44:46,280 --> 01:44:51,980
the case. And then after school, the juvenile would have an opportunity five days a week to go to

1233
01:44:51,980 --> 01:44:57,720
programming after school that included a continuation of cognitive, behavioral therapy,

1234
01:44:58,780 --> 01:44:59,980
tutoring, mental,

1235
01:45:00,000 --> 01:45:08,600
We're covering case management interactions with the family as well as vocational exposure.

1236
01:45:09,540 --> 01:45:13,320
That's the model of the programming that we're trying to encompass after school.

1237
01:45:14,440 --> 01:45:20,100
It's roughly $700 a day per child to detain them in the juvenile detention center,

1238
01:45:20,360 --> 01:45:23,980
so the goal is to provide programming that alleviates that burden.

1239
01:45:23,980 --> 01:45:30,440
And we are incorporating these kids into programming that exists.

1240
01:45:30,940 --> 01:45:37,740
However, the programming models will be slightly enhanced based on the population of juveniles

1241
01:45:37,740 --> 01:45:39,160
that are coming in.

1242
01:45:39,480 --> 01:45:48,020
And there are specific ratios to how many staff per child that comes into the programming.

1243
01:45:48,620 --> 01:45:53,540
So when John indicated that a big part of the funding cost was related to additional

1244
01:45:53,540 --> 01:45:59,620
staff, it would be staff that would be necessary to absorb incoming referrals from the juvenile

1245
01:45:59,620 --> 01:46:06,680
court system. That is, that's basically what the costs are for. They are very detailed

1246
01:46:06,680 --> 01:46:14,040
in the budgetary request, but that's what the model is aimed to do. Is this model based on any

1247
01:46:14,040 --> 01:46:21,220
model around the country? Where did it come from? This is unique, I believe, and that's why it's so

1248
01:46:21,220 --> 01:46:27,680
important to have University of Chicago in there and measuring and documenting everything that's happening.

1249
01:46:28,820 --> 01:46:35,760
So the numbers, I believe, it's $750 day to detain a child.

1250
01:46:36,420 --> 01:46:44,600
We can handle for the same amount of money, 25 to 30 children in their pretrial period.

1251
01:46:44,960 --> 01:46:47,960
It's a significant expansion of who we can serve.

1252
01:46:48,180 --> 01:46:49,900
And I think it's, I'm hopeful.

1253
01:46:49,900 --> 01:47:01,260
It's going to be more effective. I just want to add as well, ma'am, that there is no programming in the juvenile court system currently in the pre trial space.

1254
01:47:02,120 --> 01:47:06,440
So we hear a lot about a lot about programming for justice involved youth.

1255
01:47:07,000 --> 01:47:15,940
The majority of that program occurs post-dejudication, but there is a significant period of time when a child is brought into the system.

1256
01:47:15,940 --> 01:47:19,840
where they, where the case is working its way through the system,

1257
01:47:20,280 --> 01:47:23,800
and services are really needed in that time, and there are no other options.

1258
01:47:24,340 --> 01:47:27,800
When we presented this programming to the judge in that calendar,

1259
01:47:29,280 --> 01:47:32,440
we were actually surprised by her response to us.

1260
01:47:33,220 --> 01:47:36,220
She was extremely enthusiastic, and she told us,

1261
01:47:36,380 --> 01:47:40,440
and no one certain terms. If she has almost no other option for juveniles

1262
01:47:40,440 --> 01:47:43,060
that come into her courtroom in that pretrial space,

1263
01:47:43,060 --> 01:47:56,060
She either has to put them into tension or some them back to the situation that they were in without any supports and any opportunity to divert that conduct.

1264
01:47:56,880 --> 01:48:10,080
And so I think there's been an overwhelming amount of support and excitement, not only in the juvenile court, but with the JAC for this programming concept,

1265
01:48:10,080 --> 01:48:17,320
because it is uniquely situated in that pre-trial pre-adjudication space, and we just don't

1266
01:48:17,320 --> 01:48:21,460
have anything else that's serving those kids at that very pivotal time.

1267
01:48:22,020 --> 01:48:30,500
I understand you mentioned the University of Chicago Crime Lab, are they going to be developing

1268
01:48:30,500 --> 01:48:33,900
the metrics by which this program success will be measured?

1269
01:48:34,660 --> 01:48:38,720
They will be assisting us in the development of the metrics and then assisting us in

1270
01:48:38,720 --> 01:48:39,180
the tracking.

1271
01:48:39,180 --> 01:48:44,400
And what is the maximum participation of young people in this program?

1272
01:48:47,000 --> 01:48:48,400
Thank you so much for that.

1273
01:48:49,380 --> 01:48:55,960
So this is a heavy law day, so I have a question that I asked Burke.

1274
01:48:56,780 --> 01:49:01,860
And that is, in all of these offices, there's a hiring need, there's a staffing need.

1275
01:49:02,760 --> 01:49:06,580
And this week, the National Bar Association is down the street,

1276
01:49:06,580 --> 01:49:17,540
celebrating their 100th year from July 26 to August 1st. Does your office have any presents there in Iraq?

1277
01:49:17,800 --> 01:49:23,700
Yes, we have several of our supervisors are actively involved and our chief of staff is actively involved.

1278
01:49:24,100 --> 01:49:27,700
But he is on a town notification this week. Otherwise he would be there every single day.

1279
01:49:27,860 --> 01:49:29,880
But yes, we are actively involved in that group.

1280
01:49:29,880 --> 01:49:37,900
So what does that look like relative to your office, is that a hospitality room, is that just meet and greet what is that?

1281
01:49:38,060 --> 01:49:54,240
And as this is an opportunity to have very talented practitioners of the law in one space, I'd imagine that there should be some mechanism to catch in a view, whatever fancy where you want to use this particular talent pool.

1282
01:49:54,240 --> 01:50:02,180
I know Garvin's been, but he's, unfortunately, not here, but I can definitely circle back with him and get you the answer to that.

1283
01:50:02,920 --> 01:50:04,020
I thank you so much.

1284
01:50:04,460 --> 01:50:05,040
Thank you.

1285
01:50:06,000 --> 01:50:14,740
What actions can be taken by the county to adjust the CCSAO's turnover assumptions to align with actual trends?

1286
01:50:14,740 --> 01:50:23,240
I know we've talked a lot about staffing and trends and allowing the office to hire at levels that meet its operational workload.

1287
01:50:23,240 --> 01:50:29,420
workload. I think first and foremost, we have to, our attrition rate has to be adjusted from

1288
01:50:29,420 --> 01:50:34,040
eight and a half percent to a historically accurate three percent, but I'm going to turn to

1289
01:50:34,040 --> 01:50:41,760
John. Just really quickly, I want to just chime in on this question. What do you attribute to the

1290
01:50:41,760 --> 01:50:49,740
high attrition rate that you're experiencing? You know, a lot of it is COVID, COVID blew a whole in

1291
01:50:49,740 --> 01:50:57,920
society every single sector and, you know, we had remote, we had attorneys that are very

1292
01:50:57,920 --> 01:51:05,060
young where we're first job for many attorneys and there wasn't a lot of training opportunities

1293
01:51:05,060 --> 01:51:05,820
going on.

1294
01:51:06,000 --> 01:51:13,300
So I think when you're remote the affinity that those bonds don't form and so that was part

1295
01:51:13,300 --> 01:51:18,480
of it that there was a lot of it but we're committed to building that back so did you have

1296
01:51:18,480 --> 01:51:19,480
Thank you.

1297
01:51:20,060 --> 01:51:20,160
Yes.

1298
01:51:20,280 --> 01:51:20,920
Thank you.

1299
01:51:21,260 --> 01:51:23,540
John, her hand for Chief Financial Officer D.

1300
01:51:24,520 --> 01:51:28,700
It starts with the funding, so we have been in active discussions with the budget

1301
01:51:28,700 --> 01:51:35,060
office about the need to restore that funding just to maintain our hiring ability.

1302
01:51:36,020 --> 01:51:41,680
We are also seeking additional resources for the training that the state's attorney has

1303
01:51:41,680 --> 01:51:47,800
described so that it would greatly enhance our training capacity not only for the existing

1304
01:51:47,800 --> 01:51:55,520
staff, but for the staff that we need to grow into occupying, that in order to get there,

1305
01:51:55,640 --> 01:52:05,020
we need to engage and to retain these professionals and looking at the data that we do

1306
01:52:05,020 --> 01:52:09,800
have access to about the folks who left the office over the last several years. What we've seen

1307
01:52:09,800 --> 01:52:14,700
is it is the younger attorneys who tend to be the ones that are leaving in the last several

1308
01:52:14,700 --> 01:52:44,240
It's not the 20, 20, 25, 30 year experience lawyers, it's the ones who've been there for a year to say seven years and there are a lot of causes, I'm sure the state attorney can speak to many of them, but some of them are driven by our inability to fill positions and take some of the workload off of them that places too many demands on them, depending on their assignments and the nature of the work that they do.

1309
01:52:45,020 --> 01:52:52,380
And it became a spiral, the more work they had, the more people laughed, the more people laughed,

1310
01:52:52,460 --> 01:52:53,200
the more work they had.

1311
01:52:53,220 --> 01:52:55,360
It became an unending spiral.

1312
01:52:56,180 --> 01:53:00,860
So those are things that why we need that personnel quickly.

1313
01:53:01,440 --> 01:53:07,460
That's exactly why we have to address that need quickly because that was a major cause of burnout

1314
01:53:07,460 --> 01:53:08,160
for people.

1315
01:53:08,920 --> 01:53:11,240
And what we do is difficult.

1316
01:53:11,240 --> 01:53:20,620
When you have spent your entire day talking to a mother whose child has been murdered or a woman whose been gang raped, that weighs on you mentally.

1317
01:53:21,300 --> 01:53:28,260
That is, and you have to experience that with them enough to be able to go sell that to a jury.

1318
01:53:29,220 --> 01:53:39,200
That's that weighs on people, and I think we don't acknowledge what post-traumatic trauma there can be for people who experience that second hand.

1319
01:53:39,200 --> 01:53:45,920
And so that's something that we have started to address, like how do you recognize post-traumatic stress?

1320
01:53:46,020 --> 01:53:50,320
How do you recognize that in other people and what do you do to mitigate for that?

1321
01:53:50,660 --> 01:53:53,860
So that's been one of the things that we're developing for a lunch and learn.

1322
01:53:53,920 --> 01:53:59,600
We've been working with Nami in order to address what does that look like for us?

1323
01:53:59,720 --> 01:54:05,300
How do we recognize that relentless stress and that it's a difficult job?

1324
01:54:05,300 --> 01:54:10,460
We need to recognize that we need to make sure that our assistance and our victim witness

1325
01:54:10,460 --> 01:54:15,480
on our investigators are getting the support they need in order to address that.

1326
01:54:15,960 --> 01:54:17,460
Thank you.

1327
01:54:19,560 --> 01:54:25,720
What metrics or evaluation frameworks, and you talked a lot about gun violence at the beginning,

1328
01:54:25,900 --> 01:54:31,440
are in place to assess the impact of new gun violence prosecution policies,

1329
01:54:31,440 --> 01:54:38,000
particularly the shift in detention and sentencing strategy on case outcomes and public safety.

1330
01:54:38,040 --> 01:54:41,260
I know you made some different policy decisions very early.

1331
01:54:42,420 --> 01:54:48,460
So we are looking at gun rates or the crimes committed with guns. Those rates are coming down.

1332
01:54:48,600 --> 01:54:56,620
That would. It's not conclusive, but it's an indicator. It's still very early. We are six months

1333
01:54:56,620 --> 01:54:58,900
And I want to see what it looks like a year in.

1334
01:54:59,120 --> 01:55:02,600
I want to see what are the drivers that are helping,

1335
01:55:03,080 --> 01:55:04,460
what are the drivers that are hurting?

1336
01:55:04,540 --> 01:55:06,080
If we're not seeing progress,

1337
01:55:06,620 --> 01:55:09,360
if we're not seeing the impact of our policy,

1338
01:55:09,480 --> 01:55:12,380
making a difference, then I want to know that.

1339
01:55:12,700 --> 01:55:14,200
I want to know as soon as we can,

1340
01:55:14,340 --> 01:55:16,900
so that we can pivot and try something else.

1341
01:55:17,360 --> 01:55:19,480
But as it stands right now,

1342
01:55:19,600 --> 01:55:21,380
we are seeing crime numbers coming down.

1343
01:55:21,460 --> 01:55:23,160
We are seeing gun violence coming down,

1344
01:55:23,240 --> 01:55:24,580
and those are positive indicators.

1345
01:55:24,580 --> 01:55:31,880
Okay, but specifically, do you have a metrics or an evaluation framework in place to measure?

1346
01:55:32,800 --> 01:55:39,200
If it's the policy, that's indicating this drop in gun crimes or gun violence, or is it

1347
01:55:39,200 --> 01:55:44,160
all of the other work that's happening in communities and community-based organizations

1348
01:55:44,160 --> 01:55:47,200
hiring at the city level of 30,000 young people?

1349
01:55:47,540 --> 01:55:52,620
Like, I'm specifically interested in how you're measuring the effectiveness of the policy

1350
01:55:52,620 --> 01:55:53,740
that you put forward.

1351
01:55:58,540 --> 01:56:05,860
I'm the director of policy in the state's turnies office, so when we implemented these policies

1352
01:56:05,860 --> 01:56:13,940
coming in the door, we were not prepared for how significant the deficits were in our ability

1353
01:56:13,940 --> 01:56:15,440
to track our data.

1354
01:56:15,440 --> 01:56:24,760
It is a task that without additional resources and a data management system is literally insurmountable.

1355
01:56:26,980 --> 01:56:34,940
We have assistance states attorneys that are tracking by hand things that you talked about that would be metrics we would use to evaluate.

1356
01:56:34,940 --> 01:56:42,760
case outcomes, detention outcomes, all of those things. It is incredibly difficult to hone or

1357
01:56:42,760 --> 01:56:50,680
assess that kind of data with no management system. That being said yesterday I offered a

1358
01:56:50,680 --> 01:56:57,500
position to a person who already worked for us who was working on a grant funded position, but

1359
01:56:57,500 --> 01:57:01,840
agreed to come over to the policy team in September.

1360
01:57:02,520 --> 01:57:08,540
She is an analyst and her primary task is going to be creating

1361
01:57:08,540 --> 01:57:12,780
metrics to evaluate the impact of our policies and

1362
01:57:12,780 --> 01:57:17,420
working closely with our ASAs and the data we do have so that we can

1363
01:57:17,420 --> 01:57:19,740
appropriately evaluate them.

1364
01:57:20,080 --> 01:57:25,580
It has taken us time to put a person in place who is able to do that

1365
01:57:25,580 --> 01:57:31,820
because of the priorities of getting ASAs in the courtroom, frankly, the priority of staffing policy

1366
01:57:32,340 --> 01:57:37,080
is a little bit lower down on the list, much to my secret, but it's the way it is.

1367
01:57:38,100 --> 01:57:42,620
But I'm incredibly excited to have the opportunity to have her work on that.

1368
01:57:42,920 --> 01:57:48,340
And I hope that next time we are here, we are going to have metrics. I will tell you that

1369
01:57:48,340 --> 01:57:53,680
without a data management system, it's going to be really difficult for us to call that information

1370
01:57:53,680 --> 01:57:58,360
in a way that's meaningful, but I agree with you that it's important that we're measuring.

1371
01:57:59,340 --> 01:58:04,020
And so we're going to use the resources that we currently have and the skills of the people

1372
01:58:04,020 --> 01:58:07,040
who currently work for us to try to accomplish that.

1373
01:58:07,160 --> 01:58:11,620
Understood. Is there a data management system that you all are considering in particular?

1374
01:58:11,860 --> 01:58:13,040
I'm going to switch out.

1375
01:58:21,320 --> 01:58:28,200
Yes. We are looking at system options and working with the public defender's office in order

1376
01:58:28,200 --> 01:58:34,060
identify what my work across platforms, I believe, is also engagement with the Chief Judge's

1377
01:58:34,060 --> 01:58:39,000
Office as well because we all encounter similar issues when it comes to case management

1378
01:58:39,640 --> 01:58:41,220
and access to data.

1379
01:58:42,280 --> 01:58:47,120
So we haven't made a decision and there will be a procurement process that we'll have

1380
01:58:47,120 --> 01:58:53,820
to go through in order to make that final assessment and sort of pick the system.

1381
01:58:53,820 --> 01:58:58,580
But we are working with the major stakeholders in order to get there.

1382
01:58:58,620 --> 01:59:04,220
We've paused on the existing development of a system that was under development for reasons

1383
01:59:04,220 --> 01:59:11,340
that event just identified that there were shortcomings that needed to be assessed and

1384
01:59:12,020 --> 01:59:17,060
work with the other stakeholders in order to figure out a path forward so that we all

1385
01:59:17,060 --> 01:59:23,420
have useful data and that we're all, for like a better term, singing from the same songbook.

1386
01:59:24,320 --> 01:59:30,020
Any idea, any early numbers on what that system may cost?

1387
01:59:31,360 --> 01:59:36,880
We don't have any estimates right now of what a comprehensive case management system will

1388
01:59:36,880 --> 01:59:40,880
cost in the criminal's and the felony and misdemeanor criminal's side of the office.

1389
01:59:41,160 --> 01:59:42,580
It's too early to tell.

1390
01:59:43,860 --> 01:59:44,780
Okay, thank you.

1391
01:59:45,040 --> 01:59:52,460
How is the CCSAO planning to sustain the work of the gun crimes strategy unit after ARPA funding

1392
01:59:52,460 --> 01:59:55,840
in, and are there any state or federal,

1393
01:59:57,160 --> 01:59:58,900
at positive, federal, grant opportunities.

1394
02:00:00,000 --> 02:00:04,180
Being pursued for this purpose, as we know that the ARPA monies will be exhausted.

1395
02:00:05,460 --> 02:00:14,840
I am pursuing every single grant opportunity there is, and gun crimes is still an issue nationwide.

1396
02:00:15,220 --> 02:00:17,440
There are still grant opportunities available.

1397
02:00:18,060 --> 02:00:25,140
Our gun crimes strategy unit is comprised of eight different states attorneys that are deployed any time.

1398
02:00:25,140 --> 02:00:28,500
There's a gun traffic in case any time a case that's coming out of C.J.

1399
02:00:28,500 --> 02:00:35,340
at any time, it's a significant case that implicates firearms in a multi-to-to-the-voice.

1400
02:00:36,220 --> 02:00:41,560
So we're committed to keeping this unit as strong as we possibly can.

1401
02:00:42,080 --> 02:00:47,580
And even I believe there's one or two ASAs in there that are paid by our

1402
02:00:47,580 --> 02:00:52,220
preference, but we will find the resources to make sure that we keep this unit up and running

1403
02:00:52,220 --> 02:00:58,480
as much as we can, because that is one of the greatest challenges that we're facing right now

1404
02:00:58,480 --> 02:00:59,160
as gun crimes.

1405
02:01:00,400 --> 02:01:04,080
If I make, I have to add to what the state's attorney said.

1406
02:01:04,320 --> 02:01:10,760
For the 2026 budget request, those positions are integrated into the corporate budget request.

1407
02:01:12,200 --> 02:01:19,100
So there's a mechanism in place to recognize the further use of the ARPA funding through

1408
02:01:19,100 --> 02:01:27,280
and ever it's exhausted in 2026, but we've already anticipated the need to continue those positions as a part of the corporate budget.

1409
02:01:28,120 --> 02:01:34,940
And as the states are incentive, there are other opportunities to add to the resources we're certainly exploring them.

1410
02:01:35,560 --> 02:01:38,200
Thank you so much for that. Just a couple more questions.

1411
02:01:39,020 --> 02:01:43,900
It's actually related back to the case management question.

1412
02:01:43,900 --> 02:01:51,220
So what timeline and resources are needed to move the case management system out of the internal

1413
02:01:51,220 --> 02:01:57,100
design phase and into active development and how will this modernization enhance press

1414
02:01:57,100 --> 02:01:59,720
the material efficiency and transparency?

1415
02:02:02,380 --> 02:02:07,920
Those are the big questions we're trying to answer right now by working with the different

1416
02:02:07,920 --> 02:02:12,480
stakeholders to figure out what we can do together and what we need to do to serve our

1417
02:02:12,480 --> 02:02:19,660
needs, so we don't have a firm timeline. We're still early in the process of identifying

1418
02:02:19,660 --> 02:02:28,920
all those design needs that we're not near development. And my hope is that when we come back

1419
02:02:28,920 --> 02:02:34,600
in October at the time of the budget hearings, we'll have more details on the path forward,

1420
02:02:35,280 --> 02:02:42,460
but we really don't have specifics at this time. I see how much, well, this is this

1421
02:02:42,460 --> 02:02:47,540
I have a question, but I'm curious about what the issues and how you're in, how much

1422
02:02:47,540 --> 02:02:54,860
of it is related to salary, like what we're offering relative to private industry.

1423
02:02:55,980 --> 02:02:59,940
There was a significant increase in our salary for our starting assistance.

1424
02:03:00,180 --> 02:03:06,380
I believe the starting salary is $92,000 now, which when I tell states attorneys who started

1425
02:03:06,380 --> 02:03:12,300
when I started, they're a little bit shocked by that number, and I don't think salary

1426
02:03:12,300 --> 02:03:19,820
impacting it. I don't think that is our hindrance right now. I see. So with only this is my final

1427
02:03:19,820 --> 02:03:24,840
question. So with only half of vacant positions projected to be field by the end of the year,

1428
02:03:26,560 --> 02:03:32,980
what specific support budgetary administrative otherwise? There's your office need to accelerate the

1429
02:03:32,980 --> 02:03:36,260
critical hiring, particularly for ASAs.

1430
02:03:37,820 --> 02:03:39,420
It is purely funding.

1431
02:03:40,060 --> 02:03:43,720
We are at the limits of our current appropriation for salaries.

1432
02:03:44,880 --> 02:03:47,200
So as I have mentioned before,

1433
02:03:47,740 --> 02:03:51,940
seeking the funding necessary to be able to fill positions at a faster rate

1434
02:03:51,940 --> 02:03:54,980
is what we've submitted with our budget request for 2026.

1435
02:03:55,600 --> 02:03:59,600
There aren't any other significant impediments other than

1436
02:03:59,600 --> 02:04:03,740
available dollars to be able to pay people if we were to make offers.

1437
02:04:05,260 --> 02:04:08,120
Valerie, but it's us having money in the budget paid people.

1438
02:04:09,640 --> 02:04:10,900
Thank you so much.

1439
02:04:11,080 --> 02:04:11,880
You're welcome.

1440
02:04:15,600 --> 02:04:16,360
Good afternoon.

1441
02:04:17,440 --> 02:04:17,560
Good afternoon.

1442
02:04:17,740 --> 02:04:18,420
Thank you all.

1443
02:04:18,420 --> 02:04:19,360
Have you eaten?

1444
02:04:20,160 --> 02:04:21,920
No, but I'm never so it's okay.

1445
02:04:23,140 --> 02:04:30,280
So first of all, I really want to thank you for the hard work and the expedited efforts

1446
02:04:30,280 --> 02:04:35,360
that your team put forth with regard to the Willow James case, the young lady that was shot

1447
02:04:35,360 --> 02:04:40,720
in the head after school in Harvey, Illinois. That was one of my dancers and my dance

1448
02:04:40,720 --> 02:04:45,340
troops, so it was very, very difficult. So I was glad to hear from mom that everything is moving

1449
02:04:45,340 --> 02:04:51,120
forward and it's moving swiftly and I appreciate that. So thank you and your team for your work.

1450
02:04:52,020 --> 02:04:57,220
With regard to the youth program, I understand that what you're going to do now is just a pilot,

1451
02:04:57,220 --> 02:05:03,240
But do you have an idea of how many months you would need to see and how much of a survey

1452
02:05:03,240 --> 02:05:07,900
do you, or how much feedback would you require before you expanded to other school districts

1453
02:05:07,900 --> 02:05:09,420
specifically in the Southland?

1454
02:05:10,540 --> 02:05:14,120
I want to see at least a semester in school.

1455
02:05:14,480 --> 02:05:22,300
We know that that component with CPS, it's a good timeline for us because that's also, it

1456
02:05:22,300 --> 02:05:25,340
could take six months to a year for a juvenile case to get to trial.

1457
02:05:25,340 --> 02:05:32,700
that gives us a nice chunk of time to assess. Have they gotten arrested again? Have there

1458
02:05:32,700 --> 02:05:40,060
absenteeism decrease? Have we seen those measures of success of this program? Six months at least

1459
02:05:40,060 --> 02:05:46,120
in order to get that. So that all depends on our goal is to get the funding for this pilot to start

1460
02:05:46,120 --> 02:05:53,140
with the school year. So that's where we're pushing as hard as fast as we can to get that in place

1461
02:05:53,140 --> 02:05:54,620
because of that measurement,

1462
02:05:55,160 --> 02:05:57,680
because we really want the school here,

1463
02:05:58,420 --> 02:06:00,580
and children do better with structure.

1464
02:06:00,800 --> 02:06:02,620
And if we're starting this program

1465
02:06:02,620 --> 02:06:04,700
with the start of the school year,

1466
02:06:05,160 --> 02:06:06,780
that's a good structure to utilize.

1467
02:06:08,480 --> 02:06:11,700
So the measure of success is going to be

1468
02:06:11,700 --> 02:06:14,940
as if we're seeing the markers that we anticipate

1469
02:06:14,940 --> 02:06:17,860
that we're going to see, we want to expand quickly.

1470
02:06:18,840 --> 02:06:20,480
And that's going to be,

1471
02:06:20,520 --> 02:06:22,080
but I'm going to turn that over to a bit.

1472
02:06:23,360 --> 02:06:25,900
just for technical reasons,

1473
02:06:26,260 --> 02:06:30,940
expansion would likely not be geographical in this sense

1474
02:06:30,940 --> 02:06:34,700
that it would go to like, it would go to Markham, for example,

1475
02:06:35,760 --> 02:06:38,580
what expansion would look like is different court calls

1476
02:06:38,580 --> 02:06:40,740
within the juvenile system.

1477
02:06:40,980 --> 02:06:43,380
We want to make sure that we're being very thoughtful

1478
02:06:43,380 --> 02:06:44,720
about how we expand.

1479
02:06:44,940 --> 02:06:47,580
So we want to make sure that we have judges

1480
02:06:47,580 --> 02:06:50,380
who are willing to work with us in the programming.

1481
02:06:50,840 --> 02:06:52,280
We want to make sure that the courtrooms

1482
02:06:52,280 --> 02:06:59,900
have a specific day every month just for cases that involve this programming because we want

1483
02:06:59,900 --> 02:07:05,320
those court dates to look more like a staffing, if you will, than a general court date.

1484
02:07:05,500 --> 02:07:10,160
To the state's attorneys point earlier, we're not our metrics for success,

1485
02:07:10,280 --> 02:07:13,860
are not just going to be, are you showing up, did you commit another crime?

1486
02:07:14,360 --> 02:07:19,920
The metrics of success are going to be very unique to that child, and so we want to make sure

1487
02:07:19,920 --> 02:07:26,080
that we are staffing those cases with participatory personnel.

1488
02:07:26,660 --> 02:07:28,620
I also want to correct myself from before,

1489
02:07:28,660 --> 02:07:30,620
since we are talking about this program,

1490
02:07:31,160 --> 02:07:34,080
I indicated that our programming would be the only juvenile

1491
02:07:34,080 --> 02:07:35,440
programming in this space.

1492
02:07:35,620 --> 02:07:37,960
Obviously we have pretrial services in probation,

1493
02:07:38,180 --> 02:07:41,520
but it would be the programming of this type in that space.

1494
02:07:42,040 --> 02:07:44,000
So I certainly don't want to give them short trips

1495
02:07:44,000 --> 02:07:46,880
because they are doing incredible work every single day.

1496
02:07:46,880 --> 02:07:53,360
But in mentioning them, I want to add that we do need to make sure that we're not overburdening

1497
02:07:53,360 --> 02:08:00,240
those court calls. And so we have to work with our partners in pre-trial services in the judiciary

1498
02:08:00,240 --> 02:08:06,340
and across the board to make sure that as we expand, we have appropriate personnel that can

1499
02:08:06,340 --> 02:08:12,500
dedicate themselves to the demands of this type of programming. Okay, and that brings me to my next

1500
02:08:12,500 --> 02:08:18,640
question. So with regard to the Southland, we don't have nor am I suggesting to build juvenile

1501
02:08:18,640 --> 02:08:22,920
detention center. And we don't have that. But we are beginning to expand the restorative

1502
02:08:22,920 --> 02:08:27,580
justice location. So is there any conversation where we could actually mirror the two or

1503
02:08:27,580 --> 02:08:33,260
make some type of an alignment so that in the southern region they're actually sending those

1504
02:08:33,260 --> 02:08:39,300
children over to the restorative justice locations. So right now, juveniles are not in restorative

1505
02:08:39,300 --> 02:08:48,620
us to squint at all. There's solely geared towards adults. I have to say, did hear you talk about Harvey. I grew up in Pozen. So that is an area of very close to my heart.

1506
02:08:49,500 --> 02:09:06,700
But we do not have mechanisms or levers in place right now to put juveniles in any RJCC programming. RJCC programming is geared solely for emerging adults in that 18 to 22 24 depending on location age group.

1507
02:09:09,390 --> 02:09:11,610
Then also,

1508
02:09:16,500 --> 02:09:21,500
we spoke earlier about meeting the like a more of a holistic aspect of the child.

1509
02:09:21,580 --> 02:09:24,860
So we're not just looking at their behavior, but also looking at some of the resources.

1510
02:09:25,360 --> 02:09:27,460
This is less of a question and more of a suggestion.

1511
02:09:27,960 --> 02:09:33,880
We just gave over $10 million to prevent up to violence prevention programming.

1512
02:09:34,500 --> 02:09:38,280
That's being awarded, and I was strongly suggest tapping into that list.

1513
02:09:38,280 --> 02:09:45,960
It was a pretty extensive list of organizations that are providing wrap-around services specifically for this population.

1514
02:09:46,580 --> 02:09:48,300
So I was suggest tapping into that.

1515
02:09:48,800 --> 02:09:51,500
My next question would be with regard to rape kit testing.

1516
02:09:52,460 --> 02:09:55,780
I know again, and I'm speaking from Harvey, that's where I'm from, homegrown.

1517
02:09:56,540 --> 02:10:00,760
So we've always had an issue with rape kits not being tested either.

1518
02:10:00,980 --> 02:10:02,440
There were not enough people to test.

1519
02:10:02,600 --> 02:10:08,260
There was not the, whatever the case may be, a lot of women didn't receive the justice they deserve.

1520
02:10:08,260 --> 02:10:14,320
because there was such a backlog and rape kits and some of them were not properly preserved.

1521
02:10:14,940 --> 02:10:21,580
So what steps are being taken down to eliminate or decrease that backlog and then what's the

1522
02:10:21,580 --> 02:10:26,500
reality of like when does testing stop where you just can't test them anymore because they're

1523
02:10:26,500 --> 02:10:31,460
just no longer any good. On a time of copolis first assistant in the states attorney's office,

1524
02:10:31,620 --> 02:10:35,560
thank you commissioner for that question and you're absolutely right particularly in the south

1525
02:10:35,560 --> 02:10:41,520
suburbs, a lot of the law enforcement agencies that were collecting rape kits, those rape

1526
02:10:41,520 --> 02:10:43,820
kits were not being turned over to the laboratories.

1527
02:10:44,580 --> 02:10:49,220
So the law enforcement agency collects them, but then it has to go to a laboratory for

1528
02:10:49,220 --> 02:10:49,860
the testing.

1529
02:10:50,340 --> 02:10:53,740
If there is no request for the testing, then that testing isn't done.

1530
02:10:54,400 --> 02:10:58,680
The states are talking about one of our priorities is this forensic unit.

1531
02:10:59,200 --> 02:11:03,280
As part of that forensic unit, one of our assistant states are that we have now promoted

1532
02:11:03,280 --> 02:11:04,580
to the deputy supervisor.

1533
02:11:04,580 --> 02:11:11,180
he is going to be responsible for doing exactly that. So if there is a case where the lab

1534
02:11:11,180 --> 02:11:16,460
has not completed the work, the part of his duties are going to be to coordinate with the lab

1535
02:11:16,460 --> 02:11:21,980
to make sure that the lab work is done properly. If there is a need for additional testing,

1536
02:11:22,240 --> 02:11:27,220
that's also going to be one of his duties and responsibilities to make sure. We're having some

1537
02:11:27,220 --> 02:11:33,880
issues with the actual analysts that are doing the testing. So his responsibility and there's being

1538
02:11:33,880 --> 02:11:37,260
challenged as to whether or not specific analysts meet the criteria.

1539
02:11:37,920 --> 02:11:42,360
So his responsibility will also be to make sure that we have the right analysts that are

1540
02:11:42,360 --> 02:11:43,720
testifying in the courtrooms.

1541
02:11:44,360 --> 02:11:45,660
We need expert testimony.

1542
02:11:45,820 --> 02:11:50,220
So part of his responsibility now is going to be finding the experts that we need that are

1543
02:11:50,220 --> 02:11:52,780
scientists to make sure that we're doing that.

1544
02:11:53,160 --> 02:11:58,820
But if a law enforcement agency keeps the rape kit and doesn't turn it over to the lab

1545
02:11:58,820 --> 02:12:03,820
for testing, unless we are involved in the prosecution of that case, we will

1546
02:12:03,820 --> 02:12:05,740
not have the opportunity to do that.

1547
02:12:06,100 --> 02:12:08,600
I do know in the past that there had been

1548
02:12:08,600 --> 02:12:11,680
a, once the scientists that was hired

1549
02:12:11,680 --> 02:12:13,080
that we currently have now,

1550
02:12:13,380 --> 02:12:14,760
that was part of her responsibility

1551
02:12:14,760 --> 02:12:17,520
as to coordinate the testing with the labs.

1552
02:12:18,060 --> 02:12:19,720
So this is what our new forensic unit

1553
02:12:19,720 --> 02:12:22,720
is, that's exactly the reason why we want it and need it.

1554
02:12:23,020 --> 02:12:24,140
Now, with the forensic unit,

1555
02:12:24,200 --> 02:12:25,840
I know you mentioned there would be one person

1556
02:12:25,840 --> 02:12:27,060
that's kind of overseeing it.

1557
02:12:27,160 --> 02:12:29,820
Are we hiring additional staff to support?

1558
02:12:31,300 --> 02:12:32,040
We want to.

1559
02:12:32,040 --> 02:12:34,320
I mean, that's a one person.

1560
02:12:34,820 --> 02:12:36,800
Yes, it's too much for one person right now.

1561
02:12:36,860 --> 02:12:38,680
Right now, there was only a scientist.

1562
02:12:39,080 --> 02:12:39,760
That's it.

1563
02:12:39,900 --> 02:12:41,540
And she was doing all of this work.

1564
02:12:41,760 --> 02:12:43,040
So we have hired the one,

1565
02:12:43,140 --> 02:12:45,120
or we've promoted the one person

1566
02:12:45,120 --> 02:12:48,140
into the deputy supervisor role for the scientists.

1567
02:12:48,220 --> 02:12:50,620
We have hired what we call a lateral.

1568
02:12:50,660 --> 02:12:53,220
In other words, she's a former assistant state attorney.

1569
02:12:53,800 --> 02:12:54,280
She's left.

1570
02:12:54,360 --> 02:12:56,340
She was in Washington State.

1571
02:12:56,580 --> 02:12:59,040
She developed their entire forensic lab,

1572
02:12:59,220 --> 02:13:01,240
which is the digital lab that we were talking about

1573
02:13:01,240 --> 02:13:05,640
where you take all of the electronic data and dump and coordinate.

1574
02:13:06,020 --> 02:13:06,920
So we have hired her.

1575
02:13:07,040 --> 02:13:08,840
She's going to be starting at the end of August

1576
02:13:08,840 --> 02:13:13,180
to help us stand up that unit.

1577
02:13:13,760 --> 02:13:16,980
We do have a trial specialist that has been in the office.

1578
02:13:17,200 --> 02:13:18,980
She's also, but again, we need more.

1579
02:13:19,520 --> 02:13:22,140
They need to train down so that we can train across.

1580
02:13:23,420 --> 02:13:24,500
Appreciate that response.

1581
02:13:24,700 --> 02:13:25,520
Thank you.

1582
02:13:25,980 --> 02:13:30,560
And then with regard to, you mentioned earlier,

1583
02:13:30,560 --> 02:13:40,740
The different equipment and software, as you would need to basically do many of the things that you're looking to do progressively, is there any discussion with local jurisdiction

1584
02:13:40,740 --> 02:13:48,780
to utilize their resources such as the flu system. I know that I've had the experience of actually observing it through

1585
02:13:48,780 --> 02:13:51,560
Police Department and also Chicago High's

1586
02:13:51,560 --> 02:13:55,240
Police Department and it does exactly what you're referring to.

1587
02:13:55,980 --> 02:13:59,160
If you say I want to see all of them white Toyota

1588
02:13:59,900 --> 02:14:03,320
Corrolos for the last five hours, it can narrow it down like that.

1589
02:14:03,560 --> 02:14:10,060
So, if we until we get your request in place, is there any conversation that can be had with locals?

1590
02:14:11,120 --> 02:14:17,200
If the local has that capability, absolutely we have been reaching out to the federal

1591
02:14:17,200 --> 02:14:24,620
partners, the ATF, the FBI, to utilize as much of their capability as possible to until we have

1592
02:14:24,620 --> 02:14:25,100
that.

1593
02:14:25,260 --> 02:14:28,940
But that's not a guarantee, and we do not care priority.

1594
02:14:30,200 --> 02:14:38,820
So there is not a universal CPD is universal to an extent of CPD has certain capabilities,

1595
02:14:39,300 --> 02:14:44,940
but because the county is so large with so many different law enforcement entities, we're

1596
02:14:44,940 --> 02:14:47,580
that they would ever have that capability.

1597
02:14:55,970 --> 02:14:57,170
And actually thank you.

1598
02:14:57,990 --> 02:14:59,290
I just have one last question.

1599
02:14:59,510 --> 02:14:59,970
Looks like my colleague.

1600
02:15:00,000 --> 02:15:29,980
I asked them all, which is a good thing. And you answered very well. Thank you. So with regard to the orders of protection, over the past two weeks, we've heard repeatedly about some people will have up to five or more orders of protection that never entered the system. And I know right now that's being captured manually. It's not really transfer and over to the other locations. I guess my concern is, why five? Why isn't that one order protection being carried over until exactly

1601
02:15:29,980 --> 02:15:35,000
actually carried out. Why would a person need to recreate an order protection repeatedly

1602
02:15:35,000 --> 02:15:36,400
if it was never served?

1603
02:15:37,540 --> 02:15:43,180
So if an order protection is issued, what we call X-parta, which is when the survivor goes

1604
02:15:43,180 --> 02:15:48,000
in alone without the respondent being there, they can get the X-parta order protection.

1605
02:15:48,600 --> 02:15:54,180
There is a time limit as to how long that order protection will last. If it is not served, then

1606
02:15:54,180 --> 02:15:59,860
they have to go in and ask for an extension. Sometimes the survivors will not want an

1607
02:15:59,860 --> 02:16:03,320
extension because, as we all know, it's called the honeymoon phase.

1608
02:16:03,720 --> 02:16:05,640
At that time, it's the cycle of violence.

1609
02:16:06,060 --> 02:16:09,580
When they're in that honeymoon phase, that's where they like the relationship to stay,

1610
02:16:09,700 --> 02:16:14,740
and they may not want to access the system, the criminal justice system or the civil system

1611
02:16:14,740 --> 02:16:16,640
to extend the order of protection.

1612
02:16:17,160 --> 02:16:19,580
But as we all know, the cycle of violence will continue.

1613
02:16:19,900 --> 02:16:23,620
And so the next phase comes around, and then you'll have the explosive phase, and that's

1614
02:16:23,620 --> 02:16:27,180
exactly when they're coming into the system to ask for assistance.

1615
02:16:27,180 --> 02:16:33,540
So just because five priors were issued, it doesn't necessarily mean that they're in effect.

1616
02:16:34,360 --> 02:16:39,720
And so what happens is when the petitioner comes in, the survivor comes in, they have to fill out that petition.

1617
02:16:40,220 --> 02:16:44,740
That's what we didn't have access to. We didn't have access to the petitions that were being filed.

1618
02:16:45,460 --> 02:16:52,540
And as we all know survivors, we want to give them as much opportunity to make the decisions for their own lives.

1619
02:16:52,540 --> 02:16:57,740
Sometimes they don't want criminal charges, sometimes they only want civil orders of protection,

1620
02:16:57,880 --> 02:17:02,860
the only want to go into the civil courts. I think what's also important to note that many

1621
02:17:02,860 --> 02:17:09,420
of the survivors that testified at the hearing the other day talked about child custody and child

1622
02:17:09,420 --> 02:17:19,080
and support child visitation, those types of things. Under the Illinois Domestic Relations Act,

1623
02:17:19,080 --> 02:17:29,000
A order of protection is not intended to give permanent or long-term type of relief for those issues.

1624
02:17:29,500 --> 02:17:33,420
Child custody, child support, visitation issues.

1625
02:17:33,920 --> 02:17:39,100
Those are the types of things that you would get in a parentage courtroom or in a divorce courtroom,

1626
02:17:39,620 --> 02:17:44,300
where there are more services that may be available for more permanent type of relief.

1627
02:17:44,300 --> 02:17:52,380
So you can a judge can issue those that type of relief in an order of protection, but it's temporary.

1628
02:17:52,880 --> 02:17:55,300
It is best done in those other courtrooms.

1629
02:17:55,900 --> 02:18:03,400
And so the disconnect is in that situation where there are children that are involved.

1630
02:18:04,020 --> 02:18:12,800
The domestic relations court are supposed to have those types of services that address those types of issues versus a criminal court judge,

1631
02:18:12,800 --> 02:18:19,860
which has to make a decision on a split second type of in a situation where they're just issuing the orders of protection.

1632
02:18:20,460 --> 02:18:23,540
It's not intended to be a permanent type of relief.

1633
02:18:24,160 --> 02:18:25,340
Does that answer your question?

1634
02:18:25,480 --> 02:18:26,060
It does.

1635
02:18:26,420 --> 02:18:27,200
Thank you.

1636
02:18:29,840 --> 02:18:42,940
And then with regard to the laws that were made to change the cannabis rule, are we looking at more releases anytime soon for those people that are still in the system that were not impacted immediately?

1637
02:18:43,740 --> 02:18:48,100
You know, that's legislative on whether you have to go through an expungement or not.

1638
02:18:48,500 --> 02:18:53,940
And we were more than happy to make sure people got those records expunged.

1639
02:18:55,440 --> 02:18:59,100
I would like to see some legislation that it automatically happens,

1640
02:18:59,360 --> 02:19:01,040
but that's an issue for Springfield.

1641
02:19:02,280 --> 02:19:06,300
Somebody shouldn't have that as a criminal background, for example,

1642
02:19:06,640 --> 02:19:07,640
that it's no longer a crime.

1643
02:19:07,960 --> 02:19:10,460
So I would love to see that legislation.

1644
02:19:11,120 --> 02:19:16,420
Thank you and whatever our office can do to us this. Please let us know. Thank you. Thank you, Chairman.

1645
02:19:18,500 --> 02:19:24,420
Thank you. All right, state's attorney event on and John, we have approached the end. I'm the last one.

1646
02:19:26,200 --> 02:19:27,740
And share our promise to be short.

1647
02:19:29,500 --> 02:19:39,380
So I am going to be meeting with your office soon, very excited to meet with you. I will ask more questions in detail, but I think for the sake of time, I'm going to limit myself to three.

1648
02:19:40,460 --> 02:19:45,320
First is a clarifying question, you know, as you mentioned, we are seeing crime going down,

1649
02:19:45,440 --> 02:19:47,380
but domestic violence is going up.

1650
02:19:47,960 --> 02:19:52,580
Is that in terms of cases or is it just a larger share of the crime committed?

1651
02:19:52,820 --> 02:19:54,680
It's a larger share of the crime committed.

1652
02:19:55,240 --> 02:19:57,100
Okay, so then the cases themselves are not-

1653
02:19:57,100 --> 02:19:58,680
Well, okay, it's too cold.

1654
02:19:58,800 --> 02:20:03,460
If I had 39 women murdered since beginning of the year, that's a number we haven't seen

1655
02:20:03,460 --> 02:20:03,940
before.

1656
02:20:04,400 --> 02:20:09,300
So I think it's a combination of both the percentages going up and the numbers are going up.

1657
02:20:09,780 --> 02:20:09,920
Okay.

1658
02:20:09,920 --> 02:20:32,000
Thank you for clarifying that. I think that is important to understand. And then you also briefly touched on expanding civil asset for future. And as Commissioner Britain mentioned, you know, I'm also equally interested in making sure that that doesn't indirectly impact individuals who are, you know, not the targets of that.

1659
02:20:32,000 --> 02:20:42,080
Can you talk a little bit about the safeguards in place for the expansion? Is it only if they're is that an expansion it was we always had four attorneys in that unit

1660
02:20:42,080 --> 02:20:52,480
And it was always utilized all over the system any time there was a network or a financial crime or cyber crime any type of that

1661
02:20:52,480 --> 02:20:59,100
So it's just restaffing that making sure we have adequate personnel in that room and I agree with you

1662
02:20:59,100 --> 02:21:05,840
I am not interested in taking a grandmother's car or house or anything like that.

1663
02:21:05,980 --> 02:21:07,980
That is not what we're going after.

1664
02:21:08,240 --> 02:21:11,560
We are going after networks of crime.

1665
02:21:11,820 --> 02:21:16,760
We are going after organized crime, who are participating in narcotics or gun trafficking

1666
02:21:16,760 --> 02:21:17,960
or human trafficking.

1667
02:21:18,480 --> 02:21:25,520
We're interested in going after networks that are participating in financial crime or cyber crime.

1668
02:21:25,720 --> 02:21:27,160
That's what we're interested in doing.

1669
02:21:27,160 --> 02:21:32,840
And so, and thank you for clarifying that, but then, but then does that mean that the

1670
02:21:32,840 --> 02:21:34,540
forfeiture happens after a conviction?

1671
02:21:36,020 --> 02:21:36,200
Okay.

1672
02:21:36,300 --> 02:21:37,560
So it's only after a conviction.

1673
02:21:38,160 --> 02:21:38,380
Okay.

1674
02:21:38,400 --> 02:21:38,580
Great.

1675
02:21:38,760 --> 02:21:39,400
Thank you.

1676
02:21:39,680 --> 02:21:47,860
And then the last question that I have, well, the items could be seized and held.

1677
02:21:48,040 --> 02:21:50,000
But they're not forfeit until after a conviction.

1678
02:21:50,520 --> 02:21:50,720
Okay.

1679
02:21:51,000 --> 02:21:51,940
Thank you.

1680
02:21:52,740 --> 02:21:58,560
And actually I'll just go back and now ask my last question, it's not my fault, I'm going to ask an additional question.

1681
02:21:59,340 --> 02:22:07,620
Of the the women that are being murdered or subject to domestic violence.

1682
02:22:08,480 --> 02:22:12,040
Do we know how many of those are transgender females?

1683
02:22:13,760 --> 02:22:18,220
I don't. We can get back to you on that. We can get you that number. Okay, thank you.

1684
02:22:18,220 --> 02:22:29,360
And then my last question is around data, we've talked a lot about data today, and your predecessor had a data dashboard that has since been taken down.

1685
02:22:29,600 --> 02:22:30,160
Can you.

1686
02:22:30,680 --> 02:22:36,260
So when we came in in December of 2024, there was a data dashboard on our website.

1687
02:22:36,480 --> 02:22:46,460
The data dashboard reflected that the state's attorneys office in the entirety of 2024 had completed 14 jury trials.

1688
02:22:46,460 --> 02:22:53,080
We do 14 jury trials in a morning, much less foreign entire year, so we knew that that dashboard

1689
02:22:53,080 --> 02:22:59,240
did not adequately reflect or accurately reflect what the state's attorney's office was doing.

1690
02:22:59,400 --> 02:23:01,500
So we immediately took that dashboard down.

1691
02:23:01,960 --> 02:23:06,400
It is better not to give information, then to give w Hopefully an accurate information.

1692
02:23:06,860 --> 02:23:13,120
So we have been diligent in working to get a data dashboard up and running.

1693
02:23:13,120 --> 02:23:20,390
And today I saw the prototype of what our data dashboard for detention court is going to look like.

1694
02:23:21,100 --> 02:23:23,180
And done do we have a day?

1695
02:23:23,240 --> 02:23:24,980
When it's soon soon.

1696
02:23:25,280 --> 02:23:26,260
So it's going to be soon.

1697
02:23:26,620 --> 02:23:30,280
And I will tell you it is really fascinating.

1698
02:23:30,980 --> 02:23:33,320
You can click on the city by ward.

1699
02:23:33,660 --> 02:23:39,960
You can click on townships and it will give you an accurate reflection of every single crime that has committed

1700
02:23:39,960 --> 02:23:43,040
in that ward, whether we ask for detention,

1701
02:23:43,240 --> 02:23:44,600
whether it was a detainable offense,

1702
02:23:44,600 --> 02:23:46,020
and what happened with it.

1703
02:23:46,780 --> 02:23:48,600
So we are working very diligently

1704
02:23:48,600 --> 02:23:51,700
to make sure that the data that we have,

1705
02:23:51,880 --> 02:23:53,320
we can get up and available,

1706
02:23:53,760 --> 02:23:56,760
but I'm not putting data out there unless it's accurate.

1707
02:23:57,460 --> 02:24:00,600
So we are checking and rechecking that data

1708
02:24:00,600 --> 02:24:01,640
as we put it up.

1709
02:24:01,760 --> 02:24:03,240
So that's why I'm taking a little bit of time,

1710
02:24:03,740 --> 02:24:06,360
but I'm glad to say it's gonna be a very, very soon.

1711
02:24:06,820 --> 02:24:08,400
So okay, as close as we can get

1712
02:24:08,400 --> 02:24:10,160
to an actual date would be fantastic.

1713
02:24:11,760 --> 02:24:13,960
And we're going to follow up with you, make sure you have that date.

1714
02:24:14,040 --> 02:24:14,540
Thank you.

1715
02:24:14,640 --> 02:24:16,640
How is this data dashboard different?

1716
02:24:16,860 --> 02:24:23,480
You mentioned that there was not enough or perhaps inaccurate information, and the previous

1717
02:24:23,480 --> 02:24:27,500
data dashboard, what other differences it was just flat out wrong.

1718
02:24:27,940 --> 02:24:29,960
It was not even accurate.

1719
02:24:30,020 --> 02:24:31,260
It was just false.

1720
02:24:31,920 --> 02:24:36,860
And so that's the number one, I'm not going to put false information out there.

1721
02:24:36,860 --> 02:24:41,920
And if I don't have access to accurate information, I'm not just going to make up numbers and put them out there.

1722
02:24:42,300 --> 02:24:43,360
That doesn't benefit anyone.

1723
02:24:44,880 --> 02:24:47,260
I mean, that is a very strong.

1724
02:24:47,880 --> 02:24:49,680
I made a very strong statement.

1725
02:24:49,920 --> 02:24:52,980
It was false information was put up.

1726
02:24:53,260 --> 02:24:53,320
Did you?

1727
02:24:53,640 --> 02:24:56,060
Yes, I'll just elaborate a little bit.

1728
02:24:56,560 --> 02:25:01,920
Because of some of the issues that we've already described about our own case management system.

1729
02:25:01,920 --> 02:25:04,760
right now in our felony courtrooms across Cook County.

1730
02:25:05,320 --> 02:25:09,660
We do not have a case management system that operates on a supported platform.

1731
02:25:10,200 --> 02:25:15,400
In order for us to track our cases, it takes hours of data entry.

1732
02:25:15,680 --> 02:25:18,440
And we don't have staff to do the data entry.

1733
02:25:18,600 --> 02:25:20,260
So that falls on state attorneys.

1734
02:25:21,140 --> 02:25:23,500
The system we have is called crimes.

1735
02:25:24,000 --> 02:25:30,760
Crimes goes down very, very frequently and there would literally be no way in a sense

1736
02:25:30,760 --> 02:25:36,400
dates turning assigned to a felony courtroom or even one of our specialized units could work

1737
02:25:36,400 --> 02:25:41,280
a reasonable amount of hours in a day and enter the data that they would be required to

1738
02:25:41,280 --> 02:25:47,760
enter in order for this programming that we currently have to actually function. So the information

1739
02:25:47,760 --> 02:25:52,960
that was on the previous data dashboard was not information that was coming from our own record

1740
02:25:52,960 --> 02:26:01,260
keeping. That information was coming from various other entities and it was being put together

1741
02:26:01,260 --> 02:26:08,140
in some fashion and then put on our dashboard. We couldn't validate that data. So now that we

1742
02:26:08,140 --> 02:26:14,440
are, we're doing what we can to keep track of our data and it's done through Excel spreadsheets,

1743
02:26:14,480 --> 02:26:22,240
by hand, by our ASAs. But that data is then checked and validated off of external data sources

1744
02:26:22,240 --> 02:26:29,840
that are reliable, such as the Odyssey system, sometimes CPDs data, we can check it off

1745
02:26:29,840 --> 02:26:30,380
of that.

1746
02:26:30,960 --> 02:26:37,100
So, the difference now is that the information that is posted on our desk, or that's posted

1747
02:26:37,100 --> 02:26:42,020
on our website now, and the data dashboard that is coming will be data that is actually

1748
02:26:42,020 --> 02:26:50,100
kept by our people internally, that has had some source of external validation so that we can

1749
02:26:50,100 --> 02:26:53,820
ensure that we are posting things that are true and accurate.

1750
02:26:55,020 --> 02:27:01,360
There wasn't a mechanism in place to test the accuracy of the information that was on

1751
02:27:01,360 --> 02:27:07,140
the previous data dashboards that the general public had access to through the state's

1752
02:27:07,140 --> 02:27:08,000
turning website.

1753
02:27:08,500 --> 02:27:10,360
It was not state's turny data.

1754
02:27:12,120 --> 02:27:18,780
And so this new dashboard will have individuals in your office providing the data points.

1755
02:27:18,780 --> 02:27:27,940
and it is also going to be checked by your staff, is there a third party that is also going

1756
02:27:27,940 --> 02:27:33,020
to have some kind of independent review not managed these systems before? I'm just curious.

1757
02:27:33,560 --> 02:27:38,800
So I think like the best way to explain it would be let's say I'm in ASA assigned to a domestic

1758
02:27:38,800 --> 02:27:43,500
violence courtroom and I'm tracking detention and I'm doing that on an Excel spreadsheet

1759
02:27:43,500 --> 02:27:48,300
and then that's going to go to my supervisor and the supervisor is going to review the information

1760
02:27:48,300 --> 02:27:55,240
on that Excel spreadsheet, and then when it gets submitted to our tech team, prior to being posted,

1761
02:27:55,780 --> 02:28:00,860
we will be able to check to make sure that the information that has been catalogued,

1762
02:28:00,980 --> 02:28:05,260
corresponds with the information in Odyssey from the clerk's office, et cetera.

1763
02:28:06,240 --> 02:28:12,500
It would be wonderful for us to have external validators and partner with institutions like

1764
02:28:12,500 --> 02:28:18,140
the University of Chicago and other entities that do that kind of data. And we have those relationships

1765
02:28:18,140 --> 02:28:22,780
and we are working towards models for various things to do that.

1766
02:28:23,480 --> 02:28:31,260
However, I sound like a broken record, but without a case management system, it is very, very

1767
02:28:31,260 --> 02:28:37,340
difficult for external entities to actually validate and check our data in the way that we are

1768
02:28:37,340 --> 02:28:44,420
accustomed to and other forums, because there is in the state's journey in our office now

1769
02:28:44,420 --> 02:28:47,640
who can actually say like, I would like to know this.

1770
02:28:47,660 --> 02:28:50,860
I'm gonna call it from the information I have.

1771
02:28:51,220 --> 02:28:53,700
They're doing it through exiles spreadsheets.

1772
02:28:54,080 --> 02:28:56,360
There's no searching mechanism.

1773
02:28:57,260 --> 02:28:58,080
It's by hand.

1774
02:28:58,900 --> 02:29:02,220
And so, it's very difficult to put ourselves in a position

1775
02:29:02,220 --> 02:29:04,340
where we can have the kind of external validation

1776
02:29:04,340 --> 02:29:06,300
that I think you're talking about

1777
02:29:06,300 --> 02:29:08,120
with those mechanisms in place.

1778
02:29:08,860 --> 02:29:10,880
Well, I do think that if possible

1779
02:29:10,880 --> 02:29:12,700
that external validation would be helpful

1780
02:29:12,700 --> 02:29:17,840
because if what I'm hearing earlier is you know you said the previous state's attorney did not

1781
02:29:17,840 --> 02:29:23,000
have accurate information I would assume that the previous state's attorney would disagree with that

1782
02:29:23,000 --> 02:29:27,180
and then we're creating it. I don't think anybody can disagree that we did more than 14 jury trials

1783
02:29:27,180 --> 02:29:32,800
in all of 2024. I mean that's flat on its face everybody could see that that's inaccurate.

1784
02:29:34,180 --> 02:29:38,940
I just want to make sure that one we are going to have some public facing dashboard because I think

1785
02:29:38,940 --> 02:29:43,540
that is critical you know you have mentioned you want to know when you're doing good work

1786
02:29:43,540 --> 02:29:48,360
that's why your data driven the public I think would also like the data and that is a

1787
02:29:48,360 --> 02:29:55,720
way to recognize the work that's being done and so I think you know very eager to see the

1788
02:29:56,880 --> 02:29:59,700
I'm excited to meet with you all and ask more questions.

1789
02:30:00,000 --> 02:30:09,120
When we do meet. And I will, I will send those questions to you directly, as I know the chair needs to move forward. Thank you.

1790
02:30:09,240 --> 02:30:09,860
Thank you.

1791
02:30:10,220 --> 02:30:11,360
Commissioner's tapes on me.

1792
02:30:14,300 --> 02:30:26,760
Just really quickly on the follow up. You've quoted that statistic of 29 women being murdered, a couple times, 3039, 39, a couple times.

1793
02:30:26,760 --> 02:30:52,460
And so it would be, for me, and maybe everyone else, it would probably be useful to know that breakdown because I'm curious about that information, not only just the percentage or the number of those women who were transgender, but I'm also curious to know the number of young, number of women who may be younger adults. I'm interested if you're seeing any kind of uptake in domestic violence amongst youth and younger adults.

1794
02:30:52,880 --> 02:30:56,460
That's my question. We'll follow back up with you. Thank you.

1795
02:30:57,360 --> 02:31:00,600
Thank you very much for your presentation and we look forward to seeing you.

1796
02:31:01,180 --> 02:31:05,000
And October, when we will have a good follow up on all these requests. Thank you.

1797
02:31:05,040 --> 02:31:05,860
Thank you very much.

1798
02:31:06,400 --> 02:31:06,780
Thank you.