Justice Committee approves multiple public defender and court-services contracts funded by Board of Health

The McLean County Justice Committee approved a package of public defender and court-services contracts during the meeting.

Public defender contracts: The committee approved six renewals or contract requests for special public defenders: John J. Busen; Jeff Brown (two contract types noted); David Butler; Carissa Hanning; and Michael Malan. Mr. Lewis told the committee these are the same contracts as previous years and noted Ms. Hanning has helped with DUI cases while offices were understaffed. Member Roseman moved and Member Byrne seconded; the chair announced "Nines have it," and the six requests were approved.

Court services (Board of Health-funded contracts): Court services presented five contracts funded through the Board of Health and requested approval: C1A Center for Youth and Family Solutions (Veterans Peer Support Specialist services); C1B Center for Human Services (mental-health and co-occurring assessments and treatments); C1C Chestnut Health Systems Inc. (substance-use and co-occurring assessment and treatment); C1D Center for Youth and Family Solutions (juvenile probation case management); and C1E Center for Youth and Family Solutions (early identification and assessment of risk, need and responsivity for juvenile probation). Ms. Montoya noted these are long‑standing agreements that support problem‑solving courts and drug and recovery court services. Each contract was approved by voice vote.

No additional fiscal details beyond funding source (Board of Health) were provided in the meeting; presenters said the contracts fit within existing budget parameters and are routine renewals or continuations.

The committee did not take additional action on these items and moved on to other departmental reports.