Problem-Solving Courts -- A county-courts partnership

About the Program

Category: Criminal Justice and Public Safety (Best in Category)

Year: 2012

Since the 1960’s, national and local crime rates have been steadily declining but prisons remain overcrowded within certain districts. As a result, there has been an interest in changing the prosecution and incarceration system in America. Winnebago County of Illinois started their Problem Solving Courts campaign in an effort to alter the incarceration process to make it a more resourceful process that actually gives solutions to problems rather than a punishment. Working directly with the 17th Judicial Circuit Court, Winnebago County has established a comprehensive prosecution process that seeks to find meaningful solutions for criminal proceedings. Their program is based on five platforms: (1) Diversion Programs; (2) Deferred Prosecution; (3) Specialty Courts, such as drug and mental health courts; (4) Alternative-to-incarceration models; and, (5) re-entry models. Over the past four years, the program has focused primarily on specialty courts and alternative-to-incarceration models. As a result, the 17th Judicial Circuit Court has established a wide array of specialty courts that allow the prosecution to handle the case in a different manner than through the traditional “get tough” policies practiced by typical criminal proceedings. Aside from specialty courts, the campaign encourages rehabilitation as an alternative to incarceration. As prisons in Winnebago County have historically been overcrowded, the Problem Solving Courts campaign has given a solution to the incarceration dilemma. The establishment of specialty courts combined with alternative punishments has saved the county a great deal of money and time that would have otherwise been spent on a prisoner. As a result of the mental illness specialty court alone, a total of 25,389 jail days were saved between 2005 and 2010 for an expense savings of $1,523,340 at $60 per day. While this campaign may save jail space and money, it costs Winnebago County around $2.3 million annually on staffing and programs for its alternative criminal justice approaches. On top of this, the County typically allocates around $5 million for other aspects of the program.