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LaSalle County circuit clerk details $600,000 digitization project and kiosk rollout
Summary
At a Law and Justice Committee meeting, LaSalle County circuit clerk Greg reported on rising caseloads, $600,000 in tech grant spending for file digitization, installation of public kiosks and staff shortages; the committee approved the clerk's monthly report.
Greg, LaSalle County circuit clerk, told the Law and Justice Committee that his office is pursuing a large digitization effort funded by a technology grant and has started installing public kiosks to speed public transactions.
The report matters because the digitization and kiosk rollout affect how residents access filings and pay fines, and because committee members voiced interest in the projects' costs and operational readiness.
Greg said the clerk’s office paid $290,873 to the county and state and $86,075 to outside agencies, with $38,777 in collections reported. He said open case inventory was about 10,013 and that orders of protection through May totaled 259. He added the office currently has two job openings and is conducting interviews this week.
On the technology work, Greg said, "We have about $600,000 we're spending with Exela and Rantoul." He described using grant-funded kiosks for e-filing and payments, saying the devices "speak 60 languages" and that the office received a third kiosk from the tech grant. He also warned the kiosks require integration with the case-management system and a learning curve: "My answer is no" when asked if the office was fully up and running by the Supreme Court’s timeline.
Greg told the committee he expects maintenance costs and estimates per-unit kiosk costs: "I'm gonna guess a little bit, but I think those kiosks were 35 or 40,000 a piece. And then it's like $7,500 a year for the maintenance contract." He emphasized the state's attention and said the clerk's office is leading the rollout for Illinois: "We're the first circuit clerk's office in the state of Illinois to do this." He also said recent retirements have increased workload.
Committee members asked questions about kiosk functionality, security and the percentage of services the kiosks will handle. Greg replied the office has locked down external ports to block flash drives and that kiosks are no riskier than existing public workstations.
The committee approved the circuit clerk’s report by motion (moved by Ray Gatsa; seconded by Mike McEmory). The clerk's report was recorded as approved without a roll-call vote transcript beyond the chair's affirmation, "Aye. All opposed? Motion carried."
