Fewer Charges Filed By Kendall Co. State's Attorney In 2020

KENDALL COUNTY, IL — The Kendall County State's Attorney filed fewer number of charges during 2020, according to a recent report released by the office. Felony charges dropped by 6 percent, whereas misdemeanor charges saw a decrease of 16 percent.

The county filed 388 felony indictments in 2020. It had filed 414 in 2019 and 436 the year before.

"Realistically it was almost a negligible amount,” State’s Attorney Eric Weis told the Kendall County Board during its Tuesday meeting. "When you look at the numbers, and if you factor COVID-19 for probably two of those months, we were right where we should have been."

Weis also said that due to the pandemic and changes to the Nov. 3 election procedures because of it led to the office receiving 624 requests for legal review, which went up by 100 from 2019.

He said there were many discussions with County Clerk Debbie Gillette to make sure the "election process was following the law."

"With the changes going into effect on a short notice basis, with no prior experience of doing this, with people telling our office this is how it should be done and that’s not actually what the law says - we had a lot of time spent making sure we were complying," he said.

The State’s Attorney’s Office also said it helped collect $278,000 in statutory court fees and an additional $120,000 in outstanding fines. For Fiscal Year 2020, the Kendall County State’s Attorney’s Office was again under budget while still providing the elected officials and department heads of Kendall County with professional and timely legal advice and representation, and maintaining its continued commitment to seek justice for the people in the prosecution of criminal cases.