Whether done in phases or all at once, the construction of any new jail in Kane County should be on the campus of the county’s judicial center in St. Charles, Chief Judge Philip DiMarzio said Wednesday.
Backed by other court officials, including two of his most recent predecessors, DiMarzio told the County Board’s Executive Committee that the Kane judiciary thinks any jail expansion should be at the 120-acre judicial campus at Illinois Highway 38 and Peck Road in St. Charles.
With two courthouses, the County Jail and circuit clerk’s office all in different locations, DiMarzio described Kane’s decentralized judicial system as “one of the most fragmented in the state.”
As a result, he said, “The time loss is considerable, the risks are apparent and the travel costs immense.”
“We are confident you will see the wisdom of centralization,” DiMarzio told the committee.
DiMarzio made his comments before a presentation by a consulting firm that concluded the county has five options to meet its immediate and long-term needs for added jail capacity.
The committee reviewed the report by Colorado-based jail consultant Voorhis/Robertson Justice Services Inc. but took no action.
Board Chairman Mike McCoy (R-Aurora), head of the Executive Committee, described Voorhis/Robertson’s report as “very preliminary.”
McCoy, who is set to leave office Dec. 1, said he would be satisfied if the County Board can select an expansion site and hire an architect by then. McCoy said the earliest he could foresee the county having more jail capacity is 2006.
From a land-use perspective, McCoy said, the jail compound in Geneva is more isolated and compatible with expansion. For efficiency, the St. Charles campus is better, he said, “But I’d definitely want to have some citizen input.”
“We should pick a site and move on,” McCoy said. “It’s a long process designing a jail.”
Corrections Committee Chairman Karen McConnaughay (R-St.Charles), who initiated the review of the options after working to stop a planned 200-bed addition to the 400-bed jail in Geneva, reiterated that she will press for an accelerated solution to the long-standing problem of jail overcrowding.
“We’ll move as quickly as we can,” said McConnaughay, who supports building a jail at the judicial center.
Without funding to supplement the roughly $12 million the county has to build a jail, expansion in St. Charles most likely would have to be done in stages, beginning with a 300-bed facility.
The county then would be faced with having added staffing costs to operate two jail facilities that are more than 7 miles apart.
Although acknowledging that there wasn’t support on the board for asking voters for a sales tax increase, McConnaughay said she plans to investigate whether there are “any funding methods we’ve overlooked.” Those methods may include the possible use of riverboat grant funds.
Sheriff Ken Ramsey said he favors building a modular, 768-bed jail at the judicial center.
Voorhis/Robertson estimated it would cost about $49 million to build a jail in St. Charles that would meet Kane’s needs for at least 15 years.
