13th Circuit probation meeting reviews caseloads, modest grant cuts and staffing plans

Chair Chuck Goodwin called the 13th Circuit circuit-wide probation meeting to order on July 8, 2026, and the board approved remote participation for a member, accepted last month’s minutes and the presented bills, and heard department reports on juvenile and adult caseloads and recent state grant changes.

Susan Dobbs, a probation staff member, gave the statistics for June 2026. "Active caseload for LaSalle County is 67," Dobbs said, adding administrative caseloads and totals for the circuit: juvenile active caseloads were LaSalle 67, Bureau 21 and Grundy 13 for a 13th-circuit total of 101 active juveniles and 108 total on probation including administrative caseloads. She reported adult caseloads of LaSalle 459 (288 administrative), Bureau 120 (42 administrative) and Grundy 139 (188 administrative), for a circuit active adult caseload of 718 and 1,236 on probation overall.

Dobbs also listed June fee orders and collections: LaSalle County ordered $9,600 for the month and collected $3,220.80 (collected to date $20,493.48); Bureau ordered $3,100 (collected $268.03; to date $7,356.32); Grundy ordered $6,825 (collected $148.43; to date $9,115.26). Circuit-ordered totals for June were $19,525 ordered and $3,637.26 collected.

On bills, Dobbs detailed county expenditures. LaSalle County’s June bills included vehicle maintenance for three cars totaling $3,902.16, software maintenance $109.51 and training hotel costs $1,424.95, bringing LaSalle’s total to $7,967.19 for the month. Bureau County’s bills totaled $1,071.43; Grundy County’s totaled $1,086.67. Payments to detention centers were noted: a $5,700 payment to South County Detention for two dependent children and a $2,475 payment to River Valley Detention Center for two juveniles.

Chair Goodwin summarized budget work and grant impacts. He said Grundy’s budget has been completed and submitted, and LaSalle is preparing a fiscal 2027 budget. Regarding state grant changes, Goodwin said an earlier proposal of a 15% across-the-board cut did not occur for juvenile redeploy funds: "we only lost about $7,000," he said, noting that amount came from roughly $717,000 in circuit juvenile redeploy funding. By contrast, LaSalle County’s adult redeploy funding dropped about 15%, producing an approximate $63,000 shortfall; Goodwin said the office will eliminate one vacant intensive redeploy position and make other adjustments to cover that reduction without cutting client services.

Procedural matters received routine approval: the board approved a request to allow a board member to join by Zoom for medical reasons after a motion and voice vote (the transcript uses both spellings "Reed" and "Reid" for that member); it approved the June meeting minutes and the department report and voted to pay the bills presented, each by voice vote. The transcript records the motions as carried but does not provide roll-call tallies.

The board had no public comments recorded. The next meeting was set for Aug. 12, 2026. The chair adjourned the meeting after routine closing remarks.