Additional revenue may be coming to help with the expansion of the Kendall County Courthouse in Yorkville into existing space intended to accommodate an increasing number of court cases, officials said.
State Sen. Linda Holmes, D-Aurora, has introduced legislation in Springfield that would allow Kendall County a way to raise revenue to finish space that was built at the site but never completed, and to house additional judicial staff hired to support the increasing need for court services in the growing county.
“Kendall County was the fastest growing county in the United States from 2000 to 2010. It’s an immense amount of growth,” Holmes told The Beacon-News.
Kendall County kept pace as the fastest-growing county in Illinois from 2010 to 2020, she said.
The county’s population grew 14.9% to 131,869 residents in 2020 from the 114,736 residents counted in 2010, according to U.S. Census numbers. Out of all Illinois counties, Kendall grew the most over the past decade. All but 15 of the state’s 102 counties lost population during that time, according to the census figures.
That growth leads to an increased demand for services, Holmes said.
The legislation – SB3737 – would allow Kendall County to raise the funds for the courthouse expansion by adopting a fee of up to $30 on civil and criminal cases. The General Assembly in the past has approved a similar fee for Will and Kane counties.
The law would permit court officials to waive the fee so it would not be a burden for low-income individuals.
“A judge will have the discretion to waive the fee if they so choose,” Holmes said.
Money raised by the potential fee would go toward a bonding effort to fund the completion of the second floor for the expansion project, she said.
“This will provide some funding to get the project off,” she said.
She said the expansion of the courthouse is pretty straightforward.
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“A shell was built for the second floor when the Kendall County Courthouse was built but it was never completed. It’s not as though the courthouse needs an additional structure,” Holmes said.
The bill recently passed in the Senate Judicial Committee. The next step is a hearing by the full Senate.
Linda Girardi is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.