The Kane County Sheriff’s Office on Monday (Jan. 7, 2020) launched a new Electronic GPS Monitoring Pilot Program by placing five sentenced non-violent detainees on ankle bracelets and releasing them from the Kane County Adult Corrections Center.

Kane County Sheriff Ron Hain said the  initiative has been a priority since he took office a little more than a year ago.

The pilot program is designed to test operational capabilities before expanding to serve additional nonviolent sentenced offenders and lower-level-crime, pre-trial detainees, much like the previous program operated by Kane County Court Services.

A September County Board resolution established the fees for participation in electronic monitoring.

Each detainee is charged an initial $250 fee, $50 of which is held as a security deposit for the monitoring equipment. The remainder covers the $10-per-day monitoring fee charged by the Sheriff’s Office to the participant for the first 20 days on electronic monitoring

A credit card will be held on file for the daily charges for a sentence beyond 20 days.

Hain said the program is “vitally important” because it reduces the jail population and saves county taxpayer dollars.

Sheriff’s Office officials said in a Monday news release that it costs an average of $62 per day to house a person in the jail, compared to $3.75 per day for the lease of the monitoring equipment.

Kane County Sheriff Ron Hain and sheriff’s officers.

Another key element of the program is the reduction of recidivism through the new Corrections Diversion Team, which meets with each electronic monitoring candidate prior to their release and offers them job training and placement.

Hain said all five of the pilot program participants will be returning to work when they leave the jail.

“By providing them a leg up when they return to the community, we’re creating opportunities for them that they never realized existed and help to ensure they never return to the criminal justice system,” he said.

Electronic monitoring will be operated by the newly created Sheriff’s Court Operations Unit. The team consists of a lieutenant and four deputies, who are also tasked with serving civil court papers, arrest warrants, and evictions.

Hain credited Lt. Brian McCarty for his work in helping to design the details of the program. Hain said Kane State’s Attorney Joe McMahon and his office, along with Chief Judge Clint Hull and members of his judiciary, played critical roles in getting the pilot program off the ground.

SOURCE: Kane County Sheriff’s Office news release

Feature Photo Caption

Pictured is Deputy Jon Harnack of the Sheriff’s Court Services Unit applying an ankle bracelet to a program participant.