UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS

EASTERN DIVISION

BRIAN OTERO, individually and )

on behalf of a class of similarly situated )

individuals, )

) 12 C 3148

Plaintiff, )

) Honorable Judge

vs. ) Amy J. St. Eve

)

THOMAS J. DART, et al. ) Magistrate Judge

) Michael T. Mason

Defendants. )

DEFENDANT’S REPORT ON THE STATUS OF NON-MONETARY RELIEF

NOW COME Defendants, Sheriff Thomas J. Dart and Cook County, by their attorney 

ANITA ALVAREZ, State's Attorney of Cook County, through her assistant, Anthony E. Zecchin, 

and submit to this Honorable Court, pursuant to paragraph 2, p. 4 of the Settlement Agreement, 

Dkt. no. 273, the following status report.

1. Mechanism for promptly identifying Potential Male Court Discharges after their 

court appearance.

Status: At the Criminal Courts Building (“CCB”), once a criminal defendant is determined 

to be a potential discharge by the court, courtroom deputies notify RCDC (Receiving, 

Classification and Diagnostic Center) “runners” as soon as possible over the radio to retrieve the 

detainee’s paperwork from the courtroom and then Records Department “runners” are notified to 

pick up that paperwork from the RCDC Bridge. Records Department staff is also notified at that 

time so the review of paperwork can begin. For those criminal defendants at suburban 

courthouses, a list of potential discharges is created and emailed to the Records Department after 

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each transportation unit leaves the courthouse location, which allows the paperwork review to 

begin prior to the detainee arriving back at the Cook County Jail.

2. Procedure under which all Potential Male Discharges are segregated in the RCDC 

from other inmates returning from court.

Status: At all courthouses, potential discharges are immediately separated from other 

detainees and segregated in separate bullpens behind the respective courtrooms. Potential Male 

Discharges are returned to the RCDC Bridge and then to Receiving where they are placed in 

designated bullpens and kept separate from other detainees.

3. Procedure under which all Potential Males Court Discharges are not required to 

return to the general jail population.

Status: All Potential Male Court Discharges remain in designated bullpens in Receiving

and do not return to their living units. Once it is confirmed that the detainee is going to be 

discharged, his property and clothing are brought to Receiving. The detainee is then brought to 

Division 5 to complete the discharge procedure.

4. A policy in the Records Division of the Cook County Department of Corrections 

(CCDOC) under which the administrative steps necessary to release a detainee whose situation 

would define him as a member of the class are given priority over processing the paperwork of 

other inmates returning from court back to the CCDOC who are not subject to release.

Status: As described above, staff from outlying courthouses create a list of Potential Male 

Court Discharges and email it to the Records Department to begin the paperwork review. At the 

CCB, deputies notify “runners” who pick up the courtroom paperwork and bring it to the RCDC 

Bridge. Paperwork at the RCDC Bridge for Potential Court Discharges is immediately separated 

from other detainees’ paperwork and “runners” from the Records Department are notified to 

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retrieve the paperwork and bring it back to the Records Department to complete the discharge 

procedure. Once the paperwork is brought to the Records Department, Potential Court 

Discharges, both male and female, are given priority in processing over detainees that still have 

other pending criminal matters or other holds.

5. A policy in the Records Division under which the administrative steps necessary to 

release a detainee after a finding of not guilty, an acquittal or other dismissal of changes are 

undertaken in a gender-neutral manner.

Status: All Potential Court Discharges are processed as received without regard to 

whether the Potential Court Discharge is male or female.

Respectfully submitted,

ANITA ALVAREZ

State’s Attorney of Cook County

/s/ Anthony E. Zecchin

Anthony E. Zecchin

Assistant State’s Attorney 

500 Richard J. Daley Center

Chicago, Illinois 60602

(312) 603-3373

Case: 1:12-cv-03148 Document #: 302 Filed: 11/09/16 Page 3 of 3 PageID #:5966