Lake County Board Committee Meeting – September 2, 2025
Lake County Board Committee Meeting – September 2, 2025
The Lake County Board Rules and Open Meeting Act Committee met on September 2, 2025, at 17:12 UTC. The meeting included the approval of minutes, several grant and appropriation items for the 19th Judicial Circuit Court, a sheriff's office agreement for emergency medical dispatch services, and a state's attorney software appropriation. All items except one were approved unanimously.
Consent Calendar
- Minutes of Previous Meeting: Approved by voice vote with no opposition.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No public comments were made.
Discussion Items
- 8.5 – 19th Judicial Circuit Court Access and Visitation Program: Joint resolution authorizing an emergency appropriation of $50,000 from the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services for renewal of the access and visitation program. Carl Waldorf, Executive Director, and Lisa Wolf, Director of Finance, explained that the program provides mediation, parent education, and supervised visitation for separated or unmarried parents. In state FY25, the program served 67 separate cases. The resolution was approved unanimously.
- 8.6 – Redeploy Illinois Grant (Youth): Joint resolution accepting a $297,000 grant from the Illinois Department of Human Services for the Redeploy Illinois program, which provides community-based alternatives to state correctional facilities for youth. The program focuses on mentoring, counseling, and education. Approved unanimously.
- 8.7 – Adult Redeploy Program: Joint resolution authorizing an emergency appropriation of $369,590 for the adult Redeploy Illinois program, offering community-based alternatives to prison for nonviolent offenders. In FY25, the program served 122 participants with 43 new enrollments. Approved unanimously.
- 8.8 – Self-Represented Litigant Program: Joint resolution authorizing an emergency appropriation of $8,500 to support the 19th Judicial Circuit Court's self-represented litigant program. Funds will continue a live chat platform, add mobile standing desks in the law library, implement a tracking system for statistical reporting, and purchase Translate Live devices. In 2024, over 10,000 patrons were served. Approved unanimously.
- 8.9 – Sheriff's Office Emergency Medical Dispatching (EMD) Agreement: Joint resolution authorizing a $100,281 agreement with Priority Dispatch Corporation of Salt Lake City, Utah, for a back-end database shared service hosted by the Lake County Emergency Telephone System Board (ETSB). The sheriff's office portion is $25,000; ETSB funds $74,000. The item was discussed extensively:
- Jim Cherwick, Business Manager, Lake County Sheriff's Office, and Sharice Nichols, 911 Director, stated that the EMD system is a state mandate for all 911 dispatchers. The sheriff's office currently has a waiver (in place for at least three years) but seeks to implement EMD for redundancy and to be prepared if the waiver ends. The funds would come from delayed flock camera implementation.
- Chair Hart expressed concerns about the expenditure, noting that the sheriff's office is not a member of the ROC (Regional Operations Center) and that the waiver's status is uncertain.
- Member Danforth agreed, stating the item was a workaround and urging serious discussion about consolidation in the next budget cycle. He noted the ROC has redundancies and a backup in Lake Zurich.
- Despite opposition, the motion carried with one dissenting vote (Member Peterson).
- 8.10 – State's Attorney Computer Fraud Forfeiture Fund Software: Joint resolution authorizing an emergency appropriation of $30,000 from the State's Attorney's computer fraud forfeiture fund to pay for software costs (Magnet Axiom licenses, Monolith license renewal, and Celebrate Premium) for the remainder of FY25. Joe Gravitter, Chief Deputy of Administration, explained that a grant covering gray key software was not awarded, causing a $50,000 unplanned expense. A new grant application is pending, and FY26 budget includes funding for gray key. Approved unanimously.
County Administrator Report
- County Administrator introduced Turk Bias Gowin, a new SkillBridge intern from the Air Force, who will work with facilities on projects. This was his first day.
Key Outcomes
- Approved Consent Calendar: Minutes.
- Approved (unanimous): 8.5 (Access and Visitation), 8.6 (Youth Redeploy), 8.7 (Adult Redeploy), 8.8 (Self-Represented Litigant), 8.10 (State's Attorney Software).
- Approved (with one opposed): 8.9 (Sheriff's Office EMD Agreement). Member Peterson voted no.
- Next Meeting: Scheduled for October 7, 2025.
Meeting Transcript
On Tuesday, September 2nd, 2025. Uh County Board Rules and the Open Meeting Act. Attended by remote mean mean is permitted for qualified reason as long as the majority of the committee members are physical present. And we have uh my Altonberg and Sarah Kinesia is on remote. And okay. It's on a promote so we can see them. Okay. And a remind the members that attend remote, please ensure your camera is on at all times. Thank you. Okay. May we stand for the pledge, please. My pledge, please to the flag of the United States of the mayor. And to the new fellow. Oh, which is one nation on the guy. Amen. Okay. You're gonna go to roll call, right? Yes, Chair. Um, member Altenburg. Here Chair Cunningham. Here. Member Danforth. Member Knishnik. You muted uh she muted. I do, I do see she is present. I know what I mean. And it does look like she's having a little bit of a connection issue, but she is present. Uh member Kyle. Member Peterson and Vice Chair Roberts. And Member Kenishnik is here. Okay. Thank you. There's an addend to the gender. There is no public comments. There is no public comment. Chair remarks. Chair don't have no remarks today. There's unfinished business. There is not. New business. I need a motion for 8.18.4 for the minutes. Motion by Vice Chair Roberts. Second by Chair Danford. Okay. All right. You want to put a voice vote on that one? Yeah. Okay. All in favor. Aye.
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