19th Judicial Circuit

Administrative Office

Administrative Services

In late 2008, the budget and finance and human resources units combined to form the Administrative Services Division. The division, which reports directly to the executive director, is comprised of a director, a manager, three full-time staff, and one part-time employee.

The Administrative Services Division acts both independently and as a liaison with other Lake County offices and state agencies, including the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts (AOIC). The division is responsible for budget and finance matters, including the preparation and administration of the budget and monthly financial status reports, purchasing coordination and accounts payable processing; grant administration, such as applying for new grants, monitoring grant budgets and preparing fiscal reports for existing grant programs; human resources, including hiring, orientation, payroll, and risk management; and training administration, including the coordination of training events and record-keeping. Highlights from each of these areas are listed below.

Budget & Finance

• The Nineteenth Judicial Circuit is funded through the State of Illinois and Lake County. The Circuit's judges, court reporters, and arbitration center receive approximately $7 million in funding from the State. All other Circuit employees and activities are budgeted in six different funds of the Lake County budget. These funds total $22,842,392 for the current fiscal year, which began on December 1, 2008. Please refer to the statistics section for the distribution of expenses among the six funds and for information about the revenue that supports court operations.
• The largest expenditure category for the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit, like most other agencies in the public and private sector, is personnel. Personal services, including salaries and wages, comprise 61% of the budget, while contractual benefits, including health/life/dental insurance and retirement, make up 19% of the Court's overall budget. Other contractual expenses comprise 16% of budgeted expenditures, while commodities and capital purchases represent 3% and 1%, respectively.
• Significant changes in the current budget included the conversion of a part-time interpreter position to a full-time interpreter position in August, 2008, at an estimated annual net cost of $41,347. The current budget also includes $76,562 in funding for an IT specialist, $65,300 in recommended increases for various contractual line items in the court administration budget, and $9,280 for commodities in the Hulse Detention Center budget.
• The FY09 Corporate Capital Improvement Program (CCIP) includes $95,000 for additional courtroom presentation systems and related infrastructure work. In addition, the facilities budget will include funding to replace the seating in C-201. Other capital projects of interest to the Court include $515,000 for integrated justice and $225,000 to create a single secure entrance at Babcox.

Grant Administration

The Nineteenth Judicial Circuit received or maintained the following grants in 2008:

• A $395,984 grant from the Office on Violence Against Women for the period October 1, 2008, through September 30, 2011, to partner with A Safe Place to establish a Family Visitation and Exchange Center for families with a history of domestic violence or child abuse.
• A $42,686 grant from the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services in state fiscal year 2009 to contract with a mediator to aid in the resolution of visitation and custody-related disputes in an effort to increase the collection of child support payments from non-custodial parents.
• A $16,875 grant in 2008 from Prairie State Legal Services through an Illinois Equal Justice Foundation grant for the Center for Self-Representation. Funds were used to offset a portion of the costs of the Adobe LiveCycle project which will automate court forms to improve processing and customer service.
• A $200,000 enhancement grant from the Bureau of Justice Assistance for the period July 1, 2008, through June 30, 2010, to expand the Therapeutic and Intensive Monitoring (TIM) Court's treatment options for participants with co-occurring substance abuse and mental health issues.
• A $20,000 Community-Based Transitional Services for Female Offenders grant for the Probation Division, administered through the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, continued to fund a contract with a specialized treatment provider to conduct educational groups to provide women offenders with information on the causes, effects, and treatment of post-traumatic stress.
• A $116,287 Early Service Program/Delinquency Prevention grant from the Illinois Department of Human Services continued to provide community-based services to "pre-serious delinquent youths" who have been referred to the juvenile court in Lake County.
• A $10,000 planning grant in 2008 from the Illinois Department of Human Services for Juvenile Probation and Detention Services to evaluate Redeploy Illinois, a program focused on reducing commitments to the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice. Funding was used for training and data analysis to evaluate services provided to youth in Lake County.

Human Resources

• During 2008, JHR processed the hiring of twenty (20) new employees, the promotion of twelve (12) employees by career path and two (2) employees to positions of increased responsibility, the internal transfer of seven (7) employees, and the leaving of twenty-two (22) individuals, including two (2) retirements. During this time, there were a total of 273 employees (excluding judges).
• JHR also worked with the management of the Psychological Services Division to reclassify an executive secretary position to a probation officer/referral specialist and with judicial operations to upgrade an interpreter position from part-time to full-time, to support the mission of the courts. A new position was created in the Judicial Information Systems Division for an office automation specialist with programming experience. Assistance was provided to juvenile services and psychological services for a limited reorganization of the FACE-IT program to better utilize the available manpower and skills at juvenile.
• In meeting the portion of the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit's Mission relating to Accountability and Public Trust and Confidence, the Circuit remains cognizant of its Equal Opportunity statistics and encourages higher education for its employees to meet the goal of providing the best possible service to the public. Please refer to the statistics section for this information.

Training Administration

• In 2008, two staff completed and became Fellows of the National Center for State Court's Court Executive Development Program. This is the culmination of a partnership that began in 2006 between the Circuit, the College of Lake County, and the Institute for Court Management of the National Center for State Courts. Several staff members were able to participate in national classes here in Lake County, which allowed them to become Certified Court Managers.
• The annual training report for FY2008 reflects over 6,484 hours of training received by our staff in 36 separate major categories. Most of this training was accomplished in-house using our own instructors or county-provided instructors at no, or little, cost to the circuit. Many classes held outside of the circuit were also fee-free. This averages to over 26.2 hours of instruction per non-judicial staff.