Members Present Mr. McLaren, Mr. Hess, Mr. Marcotte, Mr. Tripp, Mr. Bossert, Mr. Whitten, Mr. LaGesse, Ms. Campbell, Mr. Martin, Mr. Nicholos, and Mr. Gibbs Members Absent Mr. Romein In Attendance Mr. Kruse, Sheriff Bukowski, Rick Einfeldt, Bob Gessner, Ed Glazar, Dave Cagle, Ed Smith, and Judge Erickson 1. Call to Order The meeting was called to order by the Chairman, Mr. McLaren, at 7:30 a.m. 2. Public Comment None 3. Approval of Minutes A motion to approve the minutes was made by Mr. Bossert and seconded by Mr. Marcotte. Motion carried. Mr. Whitten talked about using the shuttle bus to bus the jurors and people who pay fines from other parking lots to the Courthouse instead of creating a new parking lot. Sheriff Bukowski stated that the problem that he sees with using the bus is staffing it and the overall expense. However, he is not opposed to any concept. 4. Coroner: Bob Gessner The committee reviewed the monthly report. After various questions regarding the report, a motion to approve the monthly report was made by Mr. Tripp and seconded by Mr. Marcotte. Motion carried. Mr. Gessner stated that autopsies are extremely high. Mr. Gessner also stated that there have been some unusual cases in the last few months. Monthly Receipts of Money The committee reviewed the monthly receipts of money. After various questions regarding the monthly receipts of money, a motion to approve the receipts was made by Mr. Whitten and seconded by Mr. Martin. Motion carried. Page 1
5. Judicial: Judge Erickson Judge Erickson stated that he doesn t have anything specific to bring up this morning. Some of the other concerns that have been brought to the attention of this committee have turned out very well. About 2 years ago he asked for funding to update the jury system/call in system. It has been very beneficial. Last year he requested funding for a paralegal position. That position is in place and the person is being kept very busy. She is a great benefit. Judge Erickson stated that the collection unit has already generated funds. It has been beneficial not only for Ms. Thomas s office but the whole system as a whole. 6. Public Defender: Ed Glazar The committee reviewed the monthly report. A motion to approve the monthly report was made by Mr. Whitten and seconded by Ms. Campbell. Motion carried. Mr. Glazar stated that there was nothing unusual in the report. In traffic his office has closed 33 more cases than opened, but the number is still over 1,000 cases. Mr. Glazar stated that just as a general heads up, he would like to restructure the Public Defender s office as far as handling the traffic cases more efficiently. Judge Erickson stated that in talking to Mr. Glazar he feels that it would be a good idea to free up the Assistant Public Defenders to devote their attention to their specific court calls and maybe having an Assistant Public Defender devoted to just traffic. Mr. McLaren asked if there is an Assistant Public Defender designated just for traffic. Mr. Glazar stated no. Mr. Nicholos asked if all the Assistant Public Defenders work with another firm. Are there any full time Assistant Public Defenders? Mr. Glazar stated that no, there is no full time Assistant Public Defenders and most of the Assistant Public Defenders have their own practices on the side. Mr. Nicholos asked if that affects how the cases are handled. Mr. Glazar stated that we don t have the right to accept or reject a case. The efficiency of the system is the problem. The Assistant Public Defender needs to be in too many places at one time. Page 2
Judge Erickson stated that about 80 to 90 percent of the felony cases are appointed a public defender. Ms. Campbell asked if there are full-time Public Defenders in other counties. Judge Erickson stated that there are three different models in place. There are: all part time position offices, offices that have all full time positions, and some offices with both. There are also benefits to each type of model. Mr. Glazar stated that in his mind the biggest benefit to having all part-time Public Defenders is on the conflict cases. For example, when there are five people are accused of committing one murder. If the Public Defender s Office is a centralized full time office it can only represent one defendant and not the other four. That means that the Court has to hire private counsel at private counsel rates. One case like that could cost the County hundreds of thousands of dollars. But by having a decentralized part-time office there is no conflict. Mr. Glazar s thought is that 1,000 cases is too much for one person to handle. It would certainly reduce that amount of cases that the felony lawyers would have to handle. Mr. Glazar would request that this committee move this forward to the Executive Committee for review to see if this is something that is viable. A motion to move this to the Executive Committee was made by Mr. Nicholos and seconded by Ms. Campbell. Motion carried. Mr. Cagle informed Mr. Glazar and the committee that the Executive Committee meeting is this coming Friday. Mr. Glazar would prefer to wait until the June board meeting so that he can have his ducks in a row. Mr. Nicholos and Ms. Campbell are ok with waiting until the next Executive Committee meeting. 7. State s Attorney: Ed Smith Mr. Smith handed out a report of grand jury indictments. Mr. Smith stated that the report is routine and he sees nothing unusual about it. Mr. Smith discussed where he stands within his budget to date. Page 3
8. Sheriff/ ESDA: Tim Bukowski Census Report: Sheriff Bukowski stated that there are over 100 inmates in the jail today from the Federal Marshal Service. Sheriff Bukowski stated that the third floor of the old facility is fully occupied with 40 inmates; there are some inmates on the second floor and some on the ground floor. As the staffing levels stabilize then he will be able to have more at that facility. Sheriff Bukowski stated that he is currently authorized for 104 Corrections Officers and currently he has 100. Three officers are in Iraq and seven officers are in school. Sheriff Bukowski stated that in patrol there is one guy in the military and other than that they are fully staffed. There are two guys injured and on workers compensation. One guy broke his hand chasing a guy in a stolen car and the other has a back injury. Neither are very serious and will be off for about two weeks. Sheriff Bukowski stated that his department performed a Marshall sweep last week. The U.S. Marshal s came in and assisted his department, they brought a team up here with officers. The Sheriff s Department gave the U.S. Marshal s a list of 40 felony warrants that have been issued in the last six months, 30 of those were cleared, 20 by arrests in our County and10 were arrested in other counties. They are still looking for 10 felons. Sheriff Bukowski stated that he has received several comments about the improvement of the building and grounds at the courthouse. He is now looking at doing a study on security for the courthouse that will involve putting cameras on the outside and several other various things. Mr. Martin asked for a list of the daily count of the prisoners in the County jail. Sheriff Bukowski stated that he could get that to Mr. Martin, it is a little more difficult now due to the two facilities. 9. Circuit Clerk: Kathy Thomas Ms. Thomas was not present at today s meeting. The committee reviewed the monthly report. A motion to approve the monthly report was made by Mr. LaGesse and seconded by Mr. Tripp. Motion carried. Page 4
10. Probation: Rick Einfeldt Mr. Einfeldt stated that Carl Brown has resigned from his office and moved to the Sheriff s Department. When you lose someone with 20 years of experience it is a great loss. Mr. Einfeldt stated that residential placement of minors continues to be a struggle. 11. Old Business None 12. New Business Mr. Smith stated that he will be giving a power point presentation on Monday the 23 rd of May which will cover parliamentary procedures, Roberts Rules of Order, Administrative Hearing Process, ZBA proceedings, competitive bids, and the ethics ordinance at 1:30 p.m. 13. Adjournment A motion to adjourn the meeting at 8:17 a.m. was made by Mr. Nicholos seconded by Mr. LaGesse. Motion carried. Kelly McLaren, Chairman Stephanie Gresham Executive Coordinator Page 5