Kenosha JLAC to require rotating quarterly activity reports from judicial and law enforcement departments

A chair of the Kenosha County Judiciary & Law Enforcement Committee on May 1 announced a new reporting structure that will require regular, written department activity reports and scheduled in-person presentations intended to improve transparency and give committee members earlier notice of budget issues.

The chair told committee members the rotation would begin in June 2025 and said reports will be submitted to committee staff the Thursday before an agenda posts so members have time to review them. “If we sit here and we don't have any questions to ask them, then I don't think we're doing our due diligence,” the chair said, urging members to study reports in advance and come ready to ask questions.

The nut of the change is a rotating schedule so each department presents to JLAC once every four months. The chair outlined the initial schedule: Juvenile Intake Services Director Mary Lynn Beyer in June, October and February; Clerk of Circuit Court Rebecca Matuska Mentek in July, November and March; the sheriff in August, December and April; and the district attorney in September and January. The chair said departments should submit comprehensive written reports and attend the meeting when their report is discussed; reports should highlight relevant updates since the written submission rather than reading the whole document aloud.

Committee members asked about the level of detail expected. The chair said she wants budgetary impacts, program status and tracking information — for example, whether spending is tracking to the expected share of the fiscal year and, if not, why. “I'm looking at budgetary impacts, programs that are in place that perhaps they don't have enough money for,” she said. Members requested guidance on report length and metrics; one member asked whether a five‑page report that flags major line‑item variance and program needs would suffice.

Members also discussed the purpose of the change. The chair said JLAC has lacked a consistent structure and that patterned reporting — modeled on the public works committee's practice — will allow JLAC to better anticipate shortfalls and ask targeted questions before annual budget votes. “By having access to this information on a consistent basis, the board can make more informed budgetary decisions,” she said.

Several members said they supported the plan as written, noting the schedule is less frequent than the monthly appearances required of public works and that it should make oversight more practical. A committee member asked that report templates or minimum guidance be shared so departments submit comparable data; the chair agreed and said she will circulate a draft and then send the final schedule and guidance to the county executive and department heads.

The chair indicated the rotation also will feed into upcoming budget deliberations: members should be able to identify “wins,” staffing issues and overtime trends before formal budget hearings. One supervisor noted the committee should expect to see overtime and staffing metrics — for example, corrections overtime reported in the meeting as “$300,000 over budget” and position shortfalls — and suggested departments include those figures in the reports.

The chair said she expects department heads to make arrangements to attend the meetings when their reports are scheduled and said she will begin circulation of the plan and sample report template in the days after the meeting.