Champaign County Criminal Justice System Assessment: Final Report
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Champaign County Criminal Justice System Assessment: Final Report Presented to the Champaign County Board, and Justice System Leaders September 24, 2013 I N S T I T U T E F O R L A W & P O L I C Y P L A N N I N G To C. Pius Weibel who quietly brings enlightened, objective and effective leadership strong enough to bridge otherwise large political gaps and build consensus and solutions among his peers for the good of his community. Champaign County Board 2012-2014 Alan Kurtz, Chair Aaron Esry Gary Maxwell Christopher Alix Ralph Langenheim Jonathan Schroeder Astrid Berkson Diane Michaels Stanley C. Harper Lloyd Carter Jeff Kibler Jim McGuire Lorraine Cowart Pattsi Petrie Josh Hartke Stan James James Quisenberry Rachel Schwartz John Jay Michael Richards Max Mitchell Giraldo Rosales Criminal Justice System Officials & Stakeholders Thomas J. Difanis, Presiding Judge Captain Allen Jones, Sheriff’s Office Dan Walsh, Sheriff Randy Rosenbaum, Public Defender Julia R. Rietz, State’s Attorney Joseph Gordon, Director of Probation and Alan Kurtz, County Board Chair Court Services Astrid Berkson, County Board Justice & Social Alan Reinhart, Facilities Director Services Chair Kirk Bedwell, Justice Systems Technology Stan James, County Board Facilities Chair Coordinator Debra Busey, County Administrator Andy Rhodes, IT Director Community Justice Task Force 2012 Michael Richards, Chair Mark Driscoll Julian Rappaport Scott Bennett Sheila Ferguson Benita Rollins-Gray Lynn Branham James Kilgore William Sullivan 2013 Astrid Berkson, Chair Lynn Branham Bruce Suardini Carol Ammons James Kilgore William Sullivan Scott Bennett Michael Richards CHAMPAIGN COUNTY CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM ASSESSMENT Page 2 I N S T I T U T E F O R L A W & P O L I C Y P L A N N I N G Institute for Law and Policy Planning Team Alan Kalmanoff Project Director Alice Line Assistant Project Director Dave Voorhis Sheriff’s Operations and Facilities Brian Taugher Courts and Information Technology Tom Eberly Tracking and Profile Studies Pretrial Systems Don Leach Classification Helen Ganski Health, Mental Health, Re-Entry and CJCE Jennifer Delarosa Women in Corrections, Race, and Mental Health Allen Tai Facilities Subiksh Chandrashekar Law Enforcement Theresa Hoang Publication Sheng Zhong Cite Checking Jennifer Han Proofreading CHAMPAIGN COUNTY CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM ASSESSMENT Page 2 I N S T I T U T E F O R L A W & P O L I C Y P L A N N I N G I L P P INSTITUTE FOR LAW AND POLICY September 19, 2013 Board of Directors Alan Kalmanoff, JD, MSW, Champaign County Board, and Ph.D. County Justice System Leaders Board President Brookens Administrative Center Executive Director 1776 East Washington Urbana, IL 61802 Linda Guyden, CPA Board Treasurer Dear Board Members and Justice System Leaders, Vice President, Prudential Insurance ILPP is pleased to present this final Champaign County Criminal Justice Shelley Bergum System Assessment, and the resulting Action Plan. The final report was Board Secretary derived from feedback on the draft from your Board, the Task Force, Director, Deaf and Disabled leaders of the justice systems, and a great deal of broad community and Telecommunications, Inc. organizational input. Robert Funk Retired General Counsel We are thrilled with the implementation progress thus far and proud that Equal Employment your justice leaders have embraced the work – a collaborative effort Opportunity Commission between them, you, your task force and community, and our consulting Dr. Blanche Pearlman team. We especially appreciate your continued drive to make quantum Research Psychologist change for the better on all fronts by not waiting for this final draft. Candice Wong, M.D., M.P.H., The objective of this needs assessment was to explore the dynamics of Ph.D. justice system demand and to plan facilities. It identifies how Health Services Research improvements in policies and practices can fundamentally alter crime, University of California, San demands on the justice system, facilities and County finances. Francisco We are extremely encouraged by the enthusiasm of officials and the Advisory Board Members many stakeholders. Since the very widely supported draft report was Brian Taugher distributed, key justice system leaders have already taken significant Deputy Attorney General steps to actually implement recommendations. A justice system California Department of executive group has been expanded, strengthened and formalized – Justice under the leadership of the Sheriff, County Administrator, State’s Allen Breed Attorney, and Presiding Judge – to discuss goals, policies, and strategies. Retired Director The CJEC has already made important policy and practice changes. National Institute of Corrections Technical assistance was requested and paid for by the Court to support development of a best-practice pretrial program. The Sheriff’s Office also I. Michael Heyman requested assistance to implement an objective classification tool and to Secretary, Smithsonian Institution determine optimal use of current facilities. ILPP has provided all three. Also, law enforcement has modernized arrest policies, making them fit Sheldon Messinger better and be more cost-effective and the Jail has re-built the mental Professor of Law and health service model as a foundation for more cost effective health care. Society University of California, CHAMPAIGN COUNTY CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM ASSESSMENT Page 3 I N S T I T U T E F O R L A W & P O L I C Y P L A N N I N G Berkeley ILPP’s jail consultant subsequently worked with the Sheriff’s Office Ruth Rushen explore various interim possibilities for facility uses, even before a Retired Director recommended remodel, including restructuring of the Satellite Jail, and California Department of shuffling the inmate population to make the best use of resources and Corrections space, with an acute awareness of what’s needed for special populations. The Sheriff’s Office has taken decisive action on our preliminary findings Dr. Mimi Silbert and has made huge strides without new funding. The Court has followed President some pretrial recommendations, and the great progress since the draft Delancey Street Foundation has actually shown in newly collected system and jail population data. Dr. Bayard Catron Professor of Public Champaign County has benefited as well from the parallel work of its Administration own Justice Task Force. This Final Report and Action Plan incorporate George Washington their outstanding initiatives to implement intensive case management University and reentry planning to prevent recidivism. We recommend that Judith Heumann Champaign develop the continuum of sanctions recommended, that Assistant Secretary supports a range of non-custody supervision, punishment, and Office of Special Education programming. Treatment in the community is also critical, particularly for Rehabilitation Services women who cycle quickly through jail with limited opportunity for intervention. The Task Force’s leadership should continue. Nancy Isaac Transportation/Community This Final Report recommends a wide array of changes and courses of Planning action, and facility improvements, but very little of the newfound progress will continue without the County totally revisiting overall spending and revenue, and reallocating its budget toward initiatives ILPP recommended by the Board’s study and report, particularly reentry. The 2613 HILLEGASS AVENUE BERKELEY, CA 94704 community is damaged by the past refusal to adequately invest in MAIN: 510.486.8352 services for populations that do not belong in maximum security cages. FAX: 510.841.3710 The County Board must fix not spending money on prevention and WWW.ILPP.COM programs, or facilities. Not doing so will inevitably lead to larger expenses [email protected] for city, university and county law enforcement and for bloated operations without improving public safety. This report and this day are a turning point in budgeting: with the changes, there will be real relief in ever-increasing budget pressures on the immediate horizon. The reallocation of resources now, particularly the Public Safety Sales Tax (PSST) funds, is needed to prevent waste of the study effort and to capitalize on large savings that can be achieved. Jurisdictions nationally have chosen this path of “decarceration,” changing policies to prioritize keeping people out of jail yet punish more effectively and save resources. This is now an established best practice to drastically minimize the use of facilities, promote intact families, and give juveniles the best chance of not engaging in criminal activity. Champaign County is fortunate to have the PSST dedicated to facility and prevention oriented public safety spending. This fund must be tapped to jump-start many initiatives recommended in this report, not only to improving facilities. ILPP recommends that the County Board use its authority to direct a significant portion of the funds to preventative and diversionary programs – a recommendation that is designated as of the highest priority by the Task Force’s thinking, which ILPP fully seconds. Raising grant money later for an existing program with committed staff and a CHAMPAIGN COUNTY CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM ASSESSMENT Page 4 I N S T I T U T E F O R L A W & P O L I C Y P L A N N I N G proven track record is much easier if the program is funded now. The Board’s justice planning has stimulated interest in other priorities, in addition to the jails. Now, the County is positioned to pursue a facilities master plan and a plan for IT development, the other two centers of significant budget overflows and lost opportunities. ILPP greatly appreciates the efforts made by Champaign County justice system stakeholders, especially the Sheriff, Administrator, County Board, Justice Task Force, cities, State’s Attorney, Court and members of the community, special interests and civic groups. The Draft Report generated an unexpected level of important discussion and agreement regarding priorities and funding, and now most see that it is time to implement a modern more cost-effective system. Recommendations will greatly improve public safety and mirror community values.