Lee County court gets $1.016 million grant for tech upgrades

DIXON – Lee County received a more than $1 million state grant to upgrade technology in the Lee County Courts Building.

The Administrative Office of Illinois Courts granted the county $1,016,623.10 in funds from the 2024 Illinois Court Technology Modernization Program, according to a news release sent Thursday from Lee County State’s Attorney Charles Boonstra.

Funds will go toward upgrades to all four courtrooms, including new monitors, cameras, podiums, servers, printers, security card readers, audio equipment, microphones and computers, according to the release. It also goes toward infrastructure updates to the building and the addition of a new courtroom for jury assembly and visiting judges.

The new courtroom is something Lee County has “desperately needed since the implementation of the SAFE-T Act,” Boonstra said.

“This new technology is necessary for our courtrooms for the next 25 years and will enable us to continue to provide service to litigants,” Circuit Clerk Amy Johnson said. “As the COVID era taught us, we can never know what will come next, but this will help us be ready for the future.

“Finally, I am very pleased that this new technology will be provided without expense to the Lee County taxpayer.”

Boonstra and Chief Circuit Judge Jacquelyn Ackert thanked the AOIC for its generosity.

“We are so excited to see the amount of progress that is being done in the new courts building,” Lee County Board Chairman Bob Olson said. “The citizens of Lee County should be very proud of the way our departments work together to bring money into Lee County and save the Lee County taxpayers money through these alternative sources. I am very proud of the group effort by our department heads in working together to achieve this tremendous success.”

Lee County has received more than $2 million in state and federal grant funding over the past six months, according to the release.