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Wednesday, May 15, 2013 •
Fagan Raslawski
SAFETY COURSE • BUSINESS, E1 The only daily newspaper published in McHenry Co.
WWW.NWHERALD.COM
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CHEF DEBI • PLANIT TASTE, D3
ATV training offers valuable lessons for enthusiasts
Champagne chicken a fancy meal for special occasions
Drug court graduates five men
ROOM AT McHENRY COUNTY JAIL
Participants are first to finish county program By CHELSEA McDOUGALL
Randy Roeling was one of five people to graduate from the McHenry County drug court program.
cmcdougall@shawmedia.com
Jail population stays flat By the numbers Average total daily inmates n 2006:
475 n 2007:
473 n 2008:
501 n 2009:
499 n 2010:
500 n 2011:
529 n 2012:
465 n 2013:
434* *through April
Data provided by the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office
Inmate numbers hover well below max capacity By LAWERENCE SYNETT lsynett@shawmedia.com The inmate population at the McHenry County Jail has remained relatively flat in recent years compared to a number of collar county correctional facilities nearing capacity. Since doubling the capacity of the Woodstock-based jail more than six years ago, average daily inmate numbers have hovered around 500, well below the 650hold max. The mix of daily prisoners includes county inmates, as well as contract detainees from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office, U.S. Marshals Service and Federal Bureau of Prisons agency. “We have to be cautious because the numbers aren’t going to stay this way forever,” McHenry County Undersheriff Andrew Zinke said. “You have to credit the court system and other organizations with finding the proper services for these criminals. The challenge now is to keep doing that.” Over the last six-plus years, the average daily population at the county jail has fluctuated from a low of 434 inmates through April of this year to a high of 529 in 2011 data shows. That includes an average high of 191 county inmates in 2009, and a low thus far this year of 172. As for contracted detainees, the jailed housed its highest daily average of 348 inmates in
Photos by Kyle Grillot – kgrillot@shawmedia.com
Correctional officer Ryan Harper works with other officers in the intake office Thursday at the McHenry County Jail. TOP: Unidentified inmates wait in jail before they are taken to work Thursday. The McHenry County Jail has a maximum capacity of 650 people. 2011, and its low of 262 through the first four months of 2013. Inmates awaiting trial in criminal cases and those who have already been sentenced are housed at the jail. They are released after posting bond or sentencing, and those sentenced to more than a year for felony convictions are taken to the Illinois Department of Corrections. The jail has more than 190 correctional officers and staff, with as many as six new employees being added each year through attrition, Zinke said.
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We have a very strong probation department, and do everything we can to keep people in compliance with their conditions so they don’t end up back in jail. Phil Dailing
See JAIL, page A8
LOCALLY SPEAKING
Jim Dallke – jdallke@shawmedia.com
Rather than jail or prison, drug court participants – or those who are high-risk, high-need, recidivist offenders – take an intensive path of personalized addiction treatment. The program has 53 participants, 40 of which are heroin addicts, said Scott Block, the director of special projects for McHenry County. Garcia spent 33 days in McHenry County Jail on burglary and theft charges before
See GRADUATES, page A8
Hill won’t consider committee’s choice for board vacancy By KEVIN P. CRAVER
Tina Hill, County Board chairwoman, said Tuesday she will not allow a nominee to advance to full
kcraver@shawmedia.com WOODSTOCK – A vacant Mental Health Board seat has sparked a showdown between County Board Chairwoman Tina Hill and the committee in charge of filling it. Within minutes of the Public Health and Human Services Committee’s 4-0 vote Tuesday morning to recommend banker Jeff Thorsen to fill the seat, Hill stunned members by telling them she would not allow the nominee to advance to a full County Board vote alongside a candidate that Hill, R-
CRYSTAL LAKE
CRYSTAL LAKE
PARK DISTRICT AWARDED ILL. GRANT
GATORS SHUT OUT DUNDEE-CROWN
The Crystal Lake Park District received a $400,000 matching grant that will be used for upgrades at the Woodscreek Park recreation area. The grant is part of a statewide investment in local park projects designed to increase access and opportunities for more children to spend time outdoors. For more, see
Crystal Lake South girls soccer rolled to a 5-0 semifinal victory over fourth-seeded Dundee-Crown on Tuesday in the South Regional. With the win, the top-seeded Gators (12-7-1) face either secondseeded Cary-Grove or third-seeded Jacobs in Friday’s all-Fox Valley Conference soccer regional championship game. For more, see page C1.
page B1. Pauline Applegate
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McHenry County court services director
WOODSTOCK – Every day for 3½ years, Roberto Garcia used heroin. Every day his family was left to wonder if he was dead or alive. But Tuesday, Garcia said, was the start to a new life as a sober, drug court graduate. “[Without the drug court program] I would be dead, or in jail, or still running around,” said Garcia, 29. “It gave me a second chance at life.” Tears formed in the eyes of his mother, Anne Garcia, as she remembered what he was like when he was using. “He was a lost soul, definitely a lost soul,” said Garcia, pausing to collect herself. “He lived every day for his next fix.”
McHENRY: FEMA aid is available for many area businesses and residents who are eligible. Local, B1
County Board. Woodstock, will recommend herself. The announcement was one of two political bombshells at the meeting, the other being that Hill will ask the County Board to remove Sandra Fay
See VACANCY, page A8
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