County Sheriff

Today would probably be a good day to not be in the Courthouse.   The County's new courts technology  program is launching and it will be remarkable if it goes smoothly. 

In 1998, when the 1/4 cent sales tax for public safety passed, $250,000 per year was allocated to improve the technology in the criminal justice system.  After reviewing a number of options, the County went with New World Systems with a so called "box" solution that would need to tailored to the needs of Champaign County.  Getting this product out of the box and installed and running in Champaign County has taken about 7 or 8 years. 

The system should incorporate the Sheriff's office, Circuit Clerk, Probation, State's Attorney, Public Defender, and Circuit Judges into one system. This will eliminate needing to reenter court records at each stage in the process.  In addition, the system envisions scanning court documents in order to eliminate transferring files to Courtrooms. 

But whenever you involve this many offices in such a large project there are likely to be problems.  While each of the offices works together, each also has it's own way of doing things.  Because so many of these people are elected officials in their own right, they also don't necessarily have to go along with the program.  For example, if a judge still wants the entire paper court record brought to his courtroom, that's what's going to happen. 

I have little doubt that in the end, hopefully within weeks, the system will be running smoothly.  But the transition could give some  heartburn to more than a few people.  From a public perception, Circuit Clerk Linda Frank stands front and center on this project.  It is her staff that is going to have to inform legal secretaries that  their filing which would have sufficed last week may be lacking this week.  Or that someone with a traffic ticket has had their case postponed because the data didn't make it into the new system.  I give a lot of credit to Linda for pushing forward on this in an election year.  It would have been easy to put off this launch for six months to place it outside the political debate.

One positive for the public is that Linda fought for continued free access to the docket sheets as she has been providing for years.  Some enterprising officials apparently would have liked to go to a pay system.  That free system also is in transition, so don't be surprised if your access this week is sporadic.

No doubt some readers will be at the Courthouse this week.  I'd like to hear comments.

This is from yesterday's News-Gazette:

A sheriff's deputy used a Taser on a man accused of beating and robbing an acquaintance in Urbana on Sunday.

Jack A. Beasley, 36, who listed an address in the 1000 block of Eastern Avenue, Urbana, was arraigned and pleaded innocent Monday to a felony charge of robbery relating to an incident in Urbana early Sunday. During Beasley's arrest, an unexplained gunshot was fired by police, authorities said.

Discuss, but please be respectful to the officers, defendants and victims, please.

Originally posted in the comments, but here's the News-Gazette article:

A Douglas County sheriff's deputy was shot in a rural area between Villa Grove and Tuscola this morning, and a gunman took hostages later at a bank in Arcola.

Chief Deputy Tommy Martin was injured in the original shooting at midmorning, The News-Gazette has learned. He was taken by ambulance to Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana, where his condition was undetermined at about 1 p.m.

The incident apparently occurred on county road 1450 N about a quarter-mile east of county road 1050 E, which is about 4 miles straight north of Tuscola, between U.S. 45 and Interstate 57.

Police gave chase and one of those involved then took hostages in First Mid-Illinois Bank & Trust in Arcola.

I hope everyone is OK, and I hope this ends with nobody else getting hurt.

The County Board Justice and Social Services Committee had a hearing last night on the use of Tasers in the County's jails:

Several members of the community, including members of the Champaign-Urbana Citizens for Peace and Justice, spoke out during public participation against the use of Tasers by the sheriff's department.

"We are calling for immediate moratorium of Taser use in the county jail," said Brian Dolinar, member of the Champaign-Urbana Citizens for Peace and Justice, and a writer for the Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center. Dolinar also read from several reports of investigations launched by the sheriff's department in regards to abuse of Tasers by one of their former officers, Sgt. William Alan Myers.

UCIMC has something here, as does blogger/County Board Member Matt Gladney:

Fellow committee member Jenny Putman and I met with Sheriff Walsh and members of his department this past Wednesday for about an hour-and-a-half, discussing this very topic. We asked him a lot of questions, many of which were presented to the county by local citizen journalist Brian Dolinar. I sincerely hope the sheriff is as forthcoming tonight as he was at the meeting on Wednesday.

I strongly encourage members of the public to come out and voice their concerns and/or support regarding the issue of tasers at the county jail. Our system works best when all sides are heard. If any of you read this and decide to come out, feel free to talk with me before or after the committee meeting, if speaking during public participation isn't your thing. Or e-mail me using the link on the right-hand side of the blog.

As an aside, we have a rare opportunity in Champaign County in that one of our sitting County Board members sometimes blogs about issues that come before the County Board, asking for input and participation in advance of the "official" discussion of these issues.  It's really an unusual effort to make County government more open, and to increase public awareness and participation using new tools.  So be sure to take advantage of it - when Matt blogs about County Board issues, go to his site and tell him what you think.

It's been plastered all over the news, but Republican gubernatorial candidate Andy Martin supposedly has a warrant for his arrest in Champaign County. Per a report on WDWS today, Martin filed a $10 million dollar lawsuit against the county. He called it a "political smear" by some people in higher office. He has mentioned presiding judge Tom DiFanis quite often. He's scheduled to be at a debate this Friday at WILL TV . One would think that Sheriff Walsh would execute the warrant then. Comments?

I promoted this from an anonymoust comment:

There are 19 local races that I count - Judge Ford’s race, 3 countywide (clerk, sheriff, treasurer) and 15 county board seats. Of those, the Dems have 7 incumbents that are running for re-election. Outside of their incumbents, they’ve only recruited 4 new people to run. Of those, 1 is a perennial candidate with no chance of winning (Bob Morrison), 1 was recruited at the last minute for an open Dem seat (Melin - CB7), and 2 were recruited to run against Beckett & Wysocki.

That’s hilarious.

I wonder when the News-Gazette is going to write a nasty editorial about the impotence and ineffectiveness of the Champaign County Democratic Party?

It's no wonder, with Americans committing atrocities like this, that our stature in the world has sunk to such low levels.  I'm breathlessly awaiting the calls by the DNC for a Congressional investigation and the multi-part, much-hyped expose by CBS and 60 Minutes.

I apologize if this blog has been to focued on Katrina lately.  Partly it's because I've been so distracted by the storm and aftermath, and partyly it's that the silence on the local political front is deafening.  Other than the Winkel/Frerichs news, there have been precious few rumors and announcements about local offices.

Petitions can be circulated beginning in late September.  Things I/we still don't know:

• Republican candidate for State Senator in the 52nd District
• Republican candidate for State House in the 103rd District (which I think is unlikely, at this point) 
• Democrat candidate for County Clerk
• Democrat candidate for Sheriff
• Democrat candidate for Treasurer
• Challengers for any County Board seat

I suspect that an upcoming announcement by State Rep. Bill Black regarding his 2006 plans will get things moving.  If he runs, many of the local offices fall into place.  If he doesn't run, then there will be serious scrambling on both sides of the aisle, as people step up to State Senate, and others step up to run for those offices that are suddenly open.

On the other hand, there's plenty happening around here:

• Savoy will almost certainly create their own Mass Transit District today
• The Champaign County GOP Precinct Committeemen are meeting as a group for the first time in at least eight months on Thursday
• The Champaign City Council will have a lively smoking-ban study session on September 13

So there's lot to talk about, even if we've almost exhaustively covered some of it.  I'll try to return to spending more time on local issues.

Who's going to run for the Champaign County countywide offices?

Against Republican County Clerk Mark Shelden?

Against Republican Sheriff Dan Walsh (who was unopposed in 2002)?

Against Republican Treasurer Dan Welch (who was unopposed in 2002)?

Will any of them have tough races?

Thanks, and have a great weekend.