Village of Barrington to Start Adjudication Process

village residents soon will be allowed to challenge certain ordinance violations in a separate hearing process instead of through the Lake or Cook County courthouses.

The adjudication process will allow residents who are ticketed or arrested for minor offenses, such as underage drinking, parking tickets or curfew violations, to have their hearing take place in .

Village Manager Jeff Lawler said the hearings likely would take place at Village Hall or the Public Safety building, depending on when the case would be heard.

Lawler said the village still is working out the qualifications for the person who would hear the cases. He said the plan is have one administrator who would hear the cases.

“We anticipate having those details worked out by October, so we can begin hearing cases on the first of the year,” Lawler said.

Lawler said the plan is to start with one hearing per month and expand if it seems necessary.

“We’ve seen other communities doing this successfully,” Lawler said. “The law does allow communities to have an administrative judge on certain ordinance violations.”

Barrington Police Chief Jerry Libit said the main reason the village is looking into the process is to make it more convenient for the public. Libit said younger students who are ticketed or arrested for various reasons would have to miss class to make a court hearing in Rolling Meadows.

With “this process, we’ll be able to schedule hearings in the evening so they won’t miss class,” he said.

Libit said the process will give the village more control over the hearing process and allow for follow-up on any counseling that may be handed down during a sentence.

“We get our fair share of arrests for underage drinking here,” he said.  “This is a way for the village to have more control over the depositions of those kinds of offenses and make sure the follow-up counseling is carried through.”

Lawler said the main reason isn’t to save the village money but convenience for residents.  

“The savings is really dependent on the number of cases that would be heard,” Lawler said. “An estimated guess is we could save around $20,000 per year. It could vary from year to year.”

Libit said moving these minor offenses won’t save the village a lot of money in transportation because police officers still would have to travel to Lake or Cook County courthouses for major arrests and any moving violations.

“They may be in court for less time, and that is where the saving would come in; but it wouldn’t be significant,” Libit said.

Lawler said those who wish to challenge a ticket or arrest that qualifies for the adjudication process most likely would be able to call or email to request the next available court date.

“We may look at several options to see what is most convenient,” he said.