The McLean County Justice Committee on Oct. 23 approved a consent agenda, a recurring emergency-management grant, several contracts and a package of fiscal year 2026 budgets affecting the county’s coroner, courts, law enforcement and public defense services.

The approvals, taken by voice vote, included a consent agenda that adopted minutes from Sept. 3 and recommended approval of $632,511.22 in bills and transfers; renewal of a recurring grant with the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA)/Office of Homeland Security; a contract addendum to expand peer support services through the Center for Human Services; a contract with Prairie State Legal Services for eviction-mediation counseling; renewal of a special attorney contract providing coverage for specialty courts; an emergency appropriation ordinance amending a county fund for child-support work in the State’s Attorney’s office; and a series of department budgets for FY2026.

Why it matters: The votes fund daily operations across the county’s justice system, add personnel or contract resources for specialty services (eviction mediation, peer-support specialists, specialty courts), and change the county’s budgeting for child-support enforcement in a way the State’s Attorney said will reduce county costs.

Key actions and short descriptions

• Consent agenda — Approved. The committee approved the minutes from Sept. 3 and recommended payment of $632,511.22 in bills and transfers. Motion: Member Reeves; second: Member Hansen. (Voice vote.)

• IEMA grant agreement renewal — Approved. The sheriff’s office presented a recurring, annual preparedness grant from the Illinois Emergency Management Agency that contributes to the Emergency Management Agency budget. Motion: Member Reeves; second: Member Beirne. The sheriff told the committee the county has not previously failed to receive these funds. (Voice vote.)

• Court Services agreement addendum (Center for Human Services) — Approved. The committee approved an addendum to an existing agreement to expand peer-support specialist services. One peer-support specialist position was previously funded; the addendum adds two more positions (for a total of three) to serve emerging adults and juveniles. Funding sources mentioned included the Swift, Certain and Fair grant (state grant administered through the Administrative Office of Illinois Courts) and county shared-sales-tax funds allocated for reentry services. Motion: Member Reeves; second: Member Hanson. (Voice vote.)

• Emergency appropriation ordinance (Fund 01/1956) — Approved. The State’s Attorney requested a budget amendment to reassign benefit costs for staff now handling child-support enforcement; she said the change is not a request for new county money and estimated a county savings of $60,000–$90,000. Motion: Member Reeves; second: Member Rosemond Mendoza. (Voice vote.)

• Special attorney contract for specialty courts — Approved. The State’s Attorney’s office renewed a contract for an assistant state’s attorney who covers three of four specialty courts (Veterans, Drug and Recovery courts). The contract has been in place about 18 months and is set to expire in December; the office confirmed the attorney is willing to continue in 2026. Motion: Member Ziebart; second: Member Reeves. (Voice vote.)

• Prairie State Legal Services eviction-mediation proposal — Approved. The circuit court recommended switching mediation services to a single provider, Prairie State Legal Services, which the court estimated would reduce annual costs by about two-thirds and save roughly $6,000 a year. Motion: Member Roseman; second: Member Byrne. (Voice vote.)

• FY2026 recommended budgets — Approved. The committee approved FY2026 recommended budgets (general fund and related special funds) for the following departments/programs (motions and seconds are listed as recorded in the meeting minutes):
- Coroner (General Fund 1, Coroner Department 31, Investigations/Inquest Program 38). Motion: Member Hansen; second: Member Rosemeade. (Voice vote.)
- Children’s Advocacy Center (Fund 01/1929, programs including CAC, CASA and Multi-County Services). Motion: Member Burns; second: Member Hansen. (Voice vote.)
- Circuit Clerk (multiple funds and programs, including automation and court document storage). Motion: Member Burns; second: Member Roseman. (Voice vote.)
- Metro McLean County Centralized Communication Center (METCOM) (Fund 10/1952). Motion: Member Ziebart; second: Member Reeves. METCOM’s total budget was presented at $4,747,312; McLean County is responsible for about one-third. The METCOM presentation noted increased radio-equipment and software-maintenance costs and a proposed full-time training and quality-assurance manager. (Voice vote.)
- Public Defender (General Fund 1, Department 21). Motion: Member Reeves; second: Member Hansen. (Voice vote.)
- Circuit Court (including administration, specialty-court grants, law library and neutral-site custody exchange funds). Motion: Member Roseman; second: Member Hansen. (Voice vote.)
- Jury Commission (General Fund 1, Department 18). Motion: Member Reeves; second: Member Ziebart. (Voice vote.)
- Sheriff’s Department (General Fund and related programs including jail operations, fleet, court security and EMA). Motion: Member Reeves; second: Member Burn. The sheriff presented requests for reclassifications, additional deputy positions related to a school resource officer contract, a detective position to be assigned to the human-trafficking task force, additional body-worn-camera licenses and live-scan fingerprint equipment for the jail. (Voice vote.)
- Merit Board. Motion: Member Reeves; second: Member Ziebarth. (Voice vote.)
- State’s Attorney (General Fund and related programs, including child support fund 156). Motion: Member Roseman; second: Member Byrne. (Voice vote.)
- Court Services (including juvenile detention staffing and AOIC-required positions; DOJ Swift Certain and Fair grant funding). Motion: Member Hansen; second: Member Burn. The juvenile-detention budget included requests for three additional detention officers; the county expects AOIC/state reimbursement for the positions’ salaries, with the county covering fringe benefits. (Voice vote.)

What committee members asked: Questions during the presentations focused on revenue certainty for grants (the sheriff said the county has not failed to receive the IEMA funds), sources of grant reimbursements, whether grants were already disbursed or requested monthly, the scope of contract services, the use of fund balance (Circuit Clerk automation fund), and specific line items such as increased copy/printer costs and bill-scrubbing contracts for inmate medical billing.

Votes and recordkeeping: Most approvals were completed by voice vote and reported as “Aye” with no roll-call tallies recorded in the meeting transcript. Where line-item or program specifics were discussed, presenters noted revenue sources (VOCA, DCFS grants, Administrative Office of Illinois Courts, shared sales-tax funds), anticipated reimbursements, and capital or equipment purchases scheduled in 2026.

Next meeting: The committee set its next meeting for Nov. 5 at 4 p.m.