Chambana Sun

Champaign County Jail Facilities Committee met Oct. 6.

Here are the minutes provided by the committee:

Committee Members

Present: Kyle Patterson, Jim McGuire, Brad Passalacqua, Chris Stohr, Steve Summers, Leah Taylor, Stan Harper (All Via Zoom)

Absent: None

County Staff: Darlene Kloeppel (County Executive), Dana Brenner (Facilities Director), Dustin Heureman (Sheriff), Karen Voges (Captain), Tami Ogden (Director of Finance), Dan Busey (Recording Clerk)

Others Present: Jenny Lokshin (County Board Member), Kathy Larson (ARPA Manager), Elizabeth Hennessy (Raymond James)

Agenda Items

I. Call to Order

Committee Chair Patterson called the meeting to order at 6:33 P.M.

II. Roll Call

Upon Roll Call 7 committee members were shown to be present via zoom and a quorum was determined.

III. Approval of Agenda/Addendum

Moved by Ms. Taylor to approve the agenda; seconded by Mr. Summers Upon Roll Call Vote, the Motion Carried Unanimously.

IV. Approval of Minutes – September 8, 2021

Moved by Ms. Taylor to approve the minutes from the meeting on September 8th; seconded by Mr. Stohr Upon Roll Call Vote, the Motion Carried Unanimously.

V. Public Participation

Rohn Koester spoke regarding jail consolidation, closing downtown jail, and that he believes that jailing is driven by policy. Mr. Koester detailed jail population statistics and ways in which to drive down jail populations. Benjamin Beaupre, Citizen Representative on the Champaign Re-Entry Council, spoke about the jail consolidation. Mr. Beaupre spoke about his support for consolidation and the state of the current Downtown Jail specifically. Mr. Beaupre went on to highlight how segregation has affected jail populations historically in Champaign County and the need for programs and services. Micah McMahon spoke in support of the consolidation project for the safety of the detainees and the staff.

All meetings are at Brookens Administrative Center – 1776 E Washington Street in Urbana – unless otherwise noted. To enter Brookens after 4:30 p.m., enter at the north (rear) entrance located off Lierman Avenue. Champaign County will generally, upon request, provide appropriate aids and services leading to effective communication for qualified persons with disabilities. Please contact Administrative Services, 217-384-3776, as soon as possible but no later than 48 hours before the scheduled meeting.

Mr. McMahon asked the committee to go beyond the bare minimum. Dottie Vura-Weis provided a graph with historical daily jail population by year. Ms. Vura-Weis spoke about pre-trial reform, how it may affect the jail population, and programs that can drive down population.

VI. Communications

Mr. Passalacqua read a letter from a Champaign County citizen urging the County Board to act on jail consolidation.

VII. New Business

A. Funding Options for Satellite Jail – Tami Ogden, Director of Finance, and Elizabeth Hennessy, the Counties Municipal Advisor, delivered a presentation on funding options for consolidation. Ms. Hennessy began by giving the committee a market update. Monthly Municipal Bond Flows were displayed, and Ms. Hennessy stated that this is a great time to borrow from the financial markets. Debt Certificates and Bonds payable from the Public Safety Sales Tax were highlighted. Ms. Ogden pointed out that the counties legal debt margin at the beginning of 2022 is $265 million dollars, so the county has plenty of capacity to issue debt, however the issue is to pay for additional debt service with current revenues. Ms. Hennessy went over the current Public Safety Sales Tax current obligations. Level the Playing Field Legislation gave additional capacity to these obligations in 2021. Ms. Ogden offered different funding scenarios for its jail facilities but prefaced this by saying that they are not necessarily practical or recommended by administration. The three funding scenarios brought before the committee were Alternate Revenue Bonds, Referendum for General Obligation Bonds, and American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Funds.

Alternative Revenue Bonds: The county is required to at least 1.25x debt service coverage ratio of pledged sales tac and are backed by a general obligation tax levy which must be abated annually. Alternative Revenue Bonds require a petition period and public hearing prior to issuance. Alternative Revenue Bonds are considered a general obligation of the District and maintain the District’s general obligation bond rating. Alternative Revenue Bonds are attractive to bond investors. Payment sources include existing Public Safety Sales Tax, referendum approved .25% Public Safety Sales Tax, and referendum approved .25% Facility Sales Tax. Referendum for General Obligation Bonds would be a tax levied on taxable property. ARPA Funds would use eligible Capital investments in public facilities that respond to the COVID-19 public health emergency.

After Ms. Ogden went over several scenarios of Alternative Revenue Bonds, Referendum for General Obligation Bonds, and use of ARPA Funds Mr. Patterson opened the Committee Meeting to questions from members. Discussion of the specifics of the various scenarios between Committee Members, Ms. Ogden, and the Sheriff ensued.

B. Downtown Jail Closure and Impact on satellite Jail. County Executive Kloeppel let the committee know that 3.75 million dollars is already put aside that could be used for the purpose of relocating the Sheriff’s Office. Mr. Passalacqua asked if it would be more prudent to use ARPA funds first due to the time constraints on those funds. Ms. Kloeppel responded that it would probably depend on which plan the board ultimately chooses to use. Discussion of allocations for the 2022 budget followed. Mr. McGuire inquired about current ARPA Funds allocated for the jail. Ms. Kloeppel stated that there is no ARPA funding allocated specifically for the jail at this point. Mr. McGuire voiced his opinion that the ARPA funding should go towards consolidation.

Mr. McGuire also asked if the selling of the Downtown Jail and Sheriff’s Office would create extra funding for consolidation. Ms. Kloeppel stated that this is a possibility but until it is totally vacant it is not possible. Discussion of the timeline and processes of moving the issue to the next steps to proceed followed. Ms. Kloeppel went over different options for moving the Sheriff’s Office but advised if a discussion were to be had about actual property it would require moving into closed session. Ms. Taylor and Sheriff Heureman discussed the timeline of moving the Sheriff’s Office before the actual Downtown Jail is closed.

Mr. Patterson asked the Sheriff about possible difficulties of temporarily moving inmates out of county. Captain Voges said that it is getting harder and harder for Public Defenders to reach their clients. Captain Voges went on to say that the biggest issue is currently not having enough staff or vehicles to transport inmates. Sheriff Heureman stated that with the current numbers due to gun violence, even without consolidation, that inmates would still need to be housed of county currently. Mr. Patterson thanked Captain Voges and Sheriff Heureman for their hard work to make this difficult situation work.

C. Sheriff’s Office Relocation. Mr. Patterson determined that the Sheriff’s Office Relocation had been substantially covered in section VII, B. Mr. Brenner stated that the Board should not lose sight of the importance of the relocation of the Sheriff’s Office. Mr. Brenner highlighted different options and specifics thereof. Mr. Brenner also spoke about the relocation of Humane Society and the possibilities of that property and the fact that a greater master plan for facilities in general may be in order. Sheriff Heureman spoke about the possibility of County Plaza as an option for relocation of the Sheriff’s Office. Mr. Passalacqua and Mr. Summers spoke about the urgency of this issue and the fact that this committee has been formed to take this to the board for a decision.

VIII. Other Business

A. Date of Next Meeting

The next meeting will be November 3, 2021 at 6:30 p.m.

IX. Chair’s Report

Mr. Patterson commented that a substantiative recommendation should be made to the full board in November. Mr. Patterson encouraged Committee Members to have conversations with their respective caucuses before that time.

X. Adjournment

The Meeting adjourned at 8:10 p.m.

https://www.co.champaign.il.us/CountyBoard/Jail%20Facilities/2021/211006_Meeting/211006Minutes.pdf