BRIEFING for Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot
Re:
Address:
Dial-In Info:
Date and Time:
Neighborhood:
Alderman, Ward:
From:

Meeting with Cook County Jail Stakeholders
City Hall, 121 North LaSalle Street, RM 1103
Dial-in: 312-535-8110 / Access code: 965 442 995 /PIN: 4312
Tuesday, July 7, 2020, 6:00 PM
Downtown
Public Safety

PURPOSE
YOU are meeting with Cook County Jail Stakeholders as a follow-up to your meeting with Rev.
Jackson and several other prominent black ministers including Rev Meeks, Rev Eaddy and Rev
Jeanette Wilson as well as President Preckwinkle. The meeting will focus on providing support
services to jail detainees broadly and individuals on electronic monitoring, specifically.
Currently, the EM population does not have much supervision or access to services due to
limited County resources.
PARTICIPANTS
• Rev. Jesse Jackson
• Rev. Wilson
• Rev. Eaddy
• President Toni Preckwinkle
• Chief Judge Evans
• Judge LeRoy Martin
• Sheriff Tom Dart
• State’s Attorney Kim Foxx
City Participants:
• Superintendent Brown
• Bob Boik
• Dr. Allison Arwady, CDPH
• Lisa Morrison Butler, DFSS
Mayoral Staff:
• Maurice Classen
• Kelsey Nulph
• Susan Lee
• Norman Kerr
• Vance Henry
• JD Van Slyke
CONFIDENTIAL – NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION

1 | Page

•
•

Sybil Madison
Dan Lurie

PRESS PLAN
The event is CLOSED to press
BACKGROUND
Approximately 4000 individuals are on electronic monitoring (i.e. 1300 through courts and 3300
through Sheriff’s). The number has increased since COVID in an effort to decompress the jails.
Sheriff has publicly stated that he has limited resources to monitor and supervise those on EM
and almost no services are currently offered to them.
Although there is no comprehensive data, YOU have great concern that the individuals on
electronic monitoring are both drivers of violence and victims as demonstrated by some
anecdotal evidence. This was discussed previously with Chief Judge Evans, Judge Leroy Martin
and State’s Attorney Kim Foxx. There is agreement among stakeholders that targeted
interventions with the EM population is in the best interest of City and County.
Mayor’s Office, CDPH and DFSS have begun the work of surveying the services that are available
through city entities or delegate agencies. The critical issue will be how the EM population will
be connected to existing services and who will track service provision through case
management services. During early weeks of COVID, Mayor’s public safety team worked hard
to engage with County stakeholders to receive prior notice and contact information about
those being released from the jails. This effort was unsuccessful because County did not feel
they could release the names and contact information of those being released on privacy
reasons unless the person consented (i.e. detainees are not convicted of any crime at the time
of release therefore cannot be mandated to share personal information). Given this limitation,
Mayor’s Office believes that TASC, a current contractor to the County, may be the best entity to
make first contact with the EM population, provide case management and link them to City and
County resources. This effort will require resources to match the complex needs of the
population as well as the potential large number of individuals to be served.
DETAILS
Format:

round table discussion

TALKING POINTS
• There are currently 4,000 individuals that have been released from the County jails on
the condition of electronic monitoring. Currently, none of them receive services or
individualized monitoring
• There is a concern that some of these individuals are victims and drivers of violence
CONFIDENTIAL – NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION

2 | Page

•
•
•

•

YOU would like to partner with the courts and the Sheriff to better be in contact and
serve this population
YOU believe that standing up targeted interventions with the EM population is in the
City’s best interest
YOU feel strongly that the approach we take cannot be one size fits all and must include
services that range from case management, health, legal, housing, job
training/placement, and GED education
YOU recognize that this will not be cost free but feel strongly that is costing us even
more now in indirect ways such as violence

CONFIDENTIAL – NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION

3 | Page