Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Probation Budget topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Probation budget reshaped after AOIC rule limits use of service fees; county absorbs vehicle, software and monitoring costs
Summary
The county probation director said AOIC guidance now limits probation service fees to direct client services and that the department has reworked its FY26 budget so the county will absorb costs for vehicles, software and some monitoring previously paid from the fee fund.
The probation director told the Court Services Committee on Aug. 13, 2025, that new guidance from the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts (AOIC) bars using probation service fees for anything other than direct client services. "Probation service fees can no longer be used for anything but direct client services," the director said, and described a series of line-item changes the office made to comply.
As a result, the department can no longer pay for auto expenses (vehicles, maintenance, gas), case-management software (the office's PCGym system), or electronic monitoring (GPS), because AOIC does not recognize those costs as allowable uses of probation service fees. The director said the office will continue to pay for radios used for home visits, but that she had reduced the radio budget by $700 and cut juvenile detention by $10,000 while adding to the radio budget to offset changes. She said the office managed a net reduction of about $7,400 for the county budget by reorganizing staffing and shifting costs to the county general fund where required.
The director emphasized timing: the annual plan must be submitted by the end of the month to show compliance with AOIC requirements. Committee members asked whether the probation budgets come from the general fund; the director confirmed the county probation budget is general-fund supported and the probation service-fee budget is a separate, stand-alone fund used only for direct client services.
On the probation service-fee budget (a stand-alone revenue fund), the director noted a $700 fee that is remitted to the chief judge's office for supplies had been moved into the office supply/photocopy line. The committee voted to approve both the county probation budget (with the renames and removals) and the probation service-fee budget.
