Peoria County public defender reports steady caseloads, rise in detention hearings
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Summary
Kevin Lowe, the county public defender, told the committee the office handled roughly 85% of active cases in the third quarter of 2025, reported increases in detention hearings (802 in Courtroom 321 in 2025, up from 702), and provided a staffing snapshot showing eight full-time attorneys and 11 contractors.
Kevin Lowe, the Peoria County public defender, presented his office’s quarterly report covering the final three months of 2025 to the committee. For the record, he said, "For the record, I'm Kevin Lowe from the public defender's office." He summarized case categories, appointment rates and staffing changes and answered follow-up questions from board members.
Lowe said the office handles the large majority of active criminal matters. "Of those 667, we were appointed to 567, which works out to be exactly 85," he said, describing the report’s basis as a three-month delayed review of active cases. He gave category detail: 214 felony filings in the quarter (166 active, public defenders appointed in 145 = 87.3%), 938 misdemeanor filings (273 active; PD appointed to 250 = 91.6%), and juvenile delinquency appointments at roughly 96.3% (52 of 54 active cases, representing multiple respondents in some matters).
Lowe flagged a possible increase in detention hearings in one courtroom. "We had 802 in Courtroom 321 for the year," he said, compared with 702 the previous year; he cautioned it was too early to confirm a trend and said he would continue to monitor the figure.
On serious cases, Lowe reported 47 first-degree murder matters pending in Peoria County as of Jan. 16; two were inactive and 45 were active, with the public defender appointed in 28 (62.2%). He also supplied a rolling average across reporting periods of about 43 pending first-degree matters, about 40.5 active on average and roughly 27.3 assigned to the public defender.
Lowe closed with a staffing history prepared in response to a prior request from Steve Rickard. He said the office now has eight full-time attorneys and 11 contractors (19 total), and described the longer-term shift from contractor-heavy staffing toward more full-time hires.
Board members asked whether total labor outlay in 2026 is lower than in 2014 given the mix of contractors and full-time employees. Lowe said he is not a finance officer and suggested the county finance office could provide a comparative analysis because multiple variables (inflation, benefits, workload) affect any direct comparison.
No formal action was required on the report; the committee moved on to resolutions after the discussion.