Circuit officials: new AOIC rule will force reallocation of probation-fee spending

Probation staff at the circuit-wide meeting on April 9 said a new Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts (AOIC) directive will require at least 70% of probation fees collected to be spent on client services, with no more than 30% available for regular operational costs.

The change matters because the circuit has historically relied heavily on probation fees to cover both client supports and routine operating costs. Probation staff said the AOIC formula — described at the meeting as a “seventythirty” split — will limit the portion of fee revenue that can be used for items such as vehicle maintenance and other county-level expenses.

At the meeting, a probation staff member who presented the budget and fee figures described how the formula will be applied: programs and expenditures that fall under “client services” — for example, emergency housing, substance-abuse treatment co-pays and counseling for supervised people who cannot otherwise afford services — will count toward the 70% requirement. The presenter said county-level operational items such as vehicle maintenance will not qualify and therefore must be paid from county budgets.

The presenter said the circuit must be “fully compliant by 2028,” and that staff are compiling multi-year spending records to show how existing expenditures line up with the new requirement. The presenter said county chairs have been briefed and that the circuit will meet with each county board chair to review proposed budget changes.

Members at the meeting asked how probation fees are set and whether the change will require immediate budget revisions. A commenter asked who determines fee levels; the presenter replied that judges set individual fee amounts within statutory ranges. The presenter emphasized that the 70% client-services requirement must be expended before the remaining 30% may be used for operating costs and warned that if the 70% threshold is not reached, the allowable 30% will be reduced proportionally.

Probation staff said cell-phone reimbursements are already an area of dispute under the new rules. The presenter noted the circuit covers extensive territory — roughly 2,400 square miles — and that officers rely on devices in the field, but said AOIC rejected a request to classify cell-phone costs as client services.

The presenter said work on budgets will begin immediately at the county level, and that staff expect further legislative and administrative guidance later in the year.

Meeting participants were told they will continue discussions with county chairs and supervisors as the circuit refines budgets to match AOIC’s requirements.