Village Board Study Session

Village Board Study Session - Jul 16 2026 Agenda Thursday, July 16, 2026 at 6:00 PM Werch Boardroom, Village Hall, 5 Plaza Drive, Woodridge, IL 60517 Visitors are most welcome to attend all meetings of the Village Board. Visitors may also visit the Village website at https://www.woodridgeil.gov for instructions on electronic participation and livestreaming. Anyone wishing to provide comments on a topic or an agenda item may address the Village Board during the “COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC” segment of the meeting. It is requested that, if possible, one spokesman for a group be appointed to present the views of the entire group. Speakers who are recognized are requested to step to the podium and state their name, address and the group they are representing prior to addressing the Village Board. Comments should be limited to three minutes per person. Any individual with a disability requiring a reasonable accommodation in order to participate in this meeting should contact Andie Trucco, Village of Woodridge ADA Coordinator, at least five working days in advance of the next scheduled meeting. She can be reached at Five Plaza Drive, Woodridge, Illinois 60517, at Voice (630) 719-4709. Page I. Call to Order II. Roll Call III. Agenda Item A) Proposed Administrative Adjudication Program 3 Administration Adjudication Program Memo- July 2026.pdf IV. Public Comment V. Adjournment Executive Session Re: 1) Acquisition of Real Estate 2) Pending, Probable, or Imminent Litigation 3) Personnel 4) Collective Bargaining Page 1 of 8 5) Sale or Lease of Real Estate 6) Sale or Purchase of Securities, Investments, or Investment Contracts Page 2 of 8  VILLAGE OF WOODRIDGE TO: Honorable Mayor & Board of Trustees Eric Patt, Village Attorney FROM: Andie Trucco, Assistant Village Administrator THROUGH: Al Stonitsch, Village Administrator SUBJECT: Creation of an Administration Adjudication Program DATE: July 10, 2026 PURPOSE AND ACTION REQUESTED: The purpose of this memo is to provide additional information on an in-house Administrative Adjudication program, and to seek Board input and direction on moving forward with the creation thereof BACKGROUND: Administrative Adjudication is a widely used municipal service to help resolve local ordinance violations and property maintenance and zoning code compliance issues. Several communities have made the decision to implement administrative adjudication since it serves as a quasi- judicial process for the adjudication of municipal ordinance violations that are currently heard at the DuPage County Courthouse (a.k.a. “Field Court”) in Wheaton. DuPage County, Addison, Aurora, Bloomingdale, Burr Ridge, Clarendon Hills, Glendale Heights, Glen Ellyn, Hanover Park, Lemont, Oakbrook Terrace, Roselle, St. Charles, Villa Park, Warrenville, West Chicago, Westmont (code only), Naperville, Wheaton and Winfield are examples of other communities that have implemented an administrative adjudication program. This memorandum will outline some of the benefits and disadvantages of starting an administrative adjudication program in Woodridge. WHAT IS ADMINISTRATIVE ADJUDICATION? Administrative Adjudication is used as an alternative to DuPage County Court. This process allows the ability to address a wide range of municipal ordinance complaints. It is intended to expedite resolutions, reduce litigation expenses, and allow DuPage County Court to focus its resources on more serious judicial matters. These hearings are also more convenient for residents and businesses who wish to contest a citation or notice, because they would be heard in the Village of Woodridge as opposed to having to travel to and from the Wheaton courthouse. It is also more efficient for Village staff and police officers in that there would be less time spent traveling to and from the courthouse in Wheaton. Adjudication can also be a means for municipalities to keep a greater percentage of the fees and fines related to ordinance violations. More often than not, when cases are taken to the DuPage County, the judge will reduce, or even dismiss entirely, the local fines levied by the municipality requiring the offender to only pay the County court fees, which can vary from $10 to $300. Example, a Woodridge resident receives a notice to appear in court in DuPage County for three municipal ordinance violations resulting in $100 in Village levied fines. The resident would travel to the DuPage County Courthouse in Wheaton and wait for their respective case to be Page 3 of 8 called. Once the case is called, the judge could potentially dismiss the case and all of the Village issued fines in the amount of $100, but require the resident to pay the court fees totaling $210 per violation or $630. None of those funds come to the Village. An Adjudication Hearing is a process where a notice of violation or a ticket has been written for a particular offense. The alleged violator has the opportunity to attend the hearing and present his/her case. The hearing is presided over by a hearing officer who is an independent contractor that is hired by the Village. There are restrictions as to who can be a hearing officer for adjudication proceedings. The powers and duties of the hearing officer are as follows: • Must be an attorney licensed to practice law in the State of Illinois for at least three years; • Must be well-versed on the rules and procedures of adjudication hearings; • Must have an understanding of each subject area of the code they will adjudicate; and • Must have observed actual adjudication hearings and participated in hypothetical cases, to include ruling on evidence and issuing final orders. An Administrative Hearing is a civil (not a criminal) proceeding. In a typical situation, a Village code enforcement officer would issue a notice of violation against the property owner, contractor, or local business. Once a notice of violation has been given, the receiver of the violation notice could request a hearing to state their case. By law, the Village representatives who issued the notice of violation are not required to appear in court, but as a practical matter the Village’s code enforcement officer would appear on behalf of the Village, as would the Village Prosecutor. Certain offenses written under compliance by the Police Department could be heard by an administrative hearing officer. These include offenses related to animals, tobacco, garbage, solicitors, parking violations, vehicle equipment violations (headlights), unlicensed vehicle/no registration, obedience to traffic device (moving violation), no seat belt. Examples of minor criminal offenses that can be written as compliance citations and set for Administrative Adjudication Hearing include alcohol possession/consumption/intoxication, assault, battery, improper possession of cannabis and/or drug equipment, retail theft, disorderly conduct, criminal damage to property, and public fighting. The notice of violation must properly cite several pieces of information, including the date, time, and location of the offenses, the Ordinance violated, and the identity of the person named. Property owners, contractors, and business owners found liable through an adjudication process would be ordered to comply with the Village Code and may be fined. Any evidence or witnesses can be presented and the hearing officer will then issue a final judgment on the case. The violation will have to be brought into compliance within a certain timeframe, and if it is not, further fines can be levied as well as the violator then ordered to appear in DuPage County Court. A property owner, contractor, or business owner may file an appeal of the Administrative Hearing Officer’s decision to the DuPage County Court within 35 days from the date of that decision pursuant to the Illinois Administrative Review Act. BENEFITS OF ADJUDICATION The purpose of an effective Administrative Adjudication program is not to write more tickets. In fact, the primary benefit of adjudication is that it provides for accelerated compliance for municipal code violations. Currently, if a notice of violation occurs, and the case goes to DuPage County Court, the timeframe for compliance is at least two months, and that is not including any continuances and other issues presented by having to go to DuPage County Court. An adjudication hearing can speed up the time to which the hearing can be held and provides a compliance date and fines without having to go through the various delays that are typical of matters pending in DuPage County Court. Additionally, our code enforcement officer Page 4 of 8  would spend less time with repeat offenders via the issuance of tickets and can direct his or her efforts to more pressing issues saving the Village money. Offering in-house Administrative Adjudication hearings are also more convenient for property owners and businesses who wish to contest a citation or notice, because: a) they are heard at the local government building, b) the defendant does not have to retain legal counsel, and c) the hearing removes the lengthy time sitting in DuPage County Court waiting for your case to be called and the associated court fees. An additional benefit is fines that are imposed are collected entirely by the Village, and can be used to offset some of the Village costs associated with conducting adjudication hearings. Currently, our code enforcement officer issues long-form tickets for village ordinance violations which are then set for hearings at the Clerk of the Circuit Court. For 2026 year to date, code enforcement has written seven (7) violations. This is an arduous process, whereas access to the Village Police Department’s DACRA software system, a Zebra printer and the adjudication hearing system, issuing citations will be significantly less cumbersome from an efficiency standpoint. In addition, other code enforcement officers can be trained and given the tools to participate with relative ease. Aside from the long-form tickets, Village code enforcement officers more commonly issue notices of violation. The schedule below shows the breakdown of annual notice of violations issued: YEAR Notices of Violations Issued 2024 714 2025 775 2026 224 The schedule below shows the breakdown of monthly citations written for 2025 and 2026 as this is how far the data in DACRA goes back: 2025 Police Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Ticket Type Parking 195 165 137 81 94 60 163 94 109 121 57 104 *Compliance 21 2 1 0 3 1 1 1 2 0 1 1 **Village 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Ordinance TOTAL 216 167 138 81 97 61 164 95 111 121 58 105 Total for 2025-1,414 2026 Police Ticket January February March April May June Type Parking 152 56 75 171 145 89 Compliance 0 0 13 1 0 4 Village Ordinance 1 2 3 0 4 2 TOTAL 153 58 91 172 149 95 *Examples of Police Compliance offenses include open burning, improper sign posting, dangerous/vicious animal, etc. **Examples of Village Ordinance offenses can include battery or theft charges under Village Code The new DACRA ticketing program (which has been used by the Police Department for two years now) is built for Administrative Adjudication hearings and processing. The PD has Page 5 of 8 recently renewed its contract with DACRA and, when doing so, staff advised DACRA that the Village was anticipating moving toward Adjudication in 2027 and the contract was written with that in mind. If the Village were to move forward with Administrative Adjudication, the upfront costs for this module are $5,000, plus $1,000 per month, as well as a $3.00 charge per violation after the first 500 violations. DISADVANTAGES OF ADMINISTRATIVE ADJUDICATION: The goal of administrative adjudication is to increase the compliance of property maintenance and other ordinance violations, which leads to a healthier and safer community. Some disadvantages are: • The additional costs associated with having hearings on a monthly basis (some of which could be offset by greater fees collected; and • The significant amount of staff time that would be needed to establish and administer the program. o Staff is recommending that the Administrative Adjudication program be supervised by the Assistant Village Administrator and will fall under the Administration Department’s oversight. Communities typically utilize administrative support staff to assist with the Administrative Adjudication clerk function. The administrative adjudication program is an interdepartmental operation that would involve close coordination between Administration, Community Development, and Police. If the Board’s direction was to move forward with the program, staff would review and develop a recommended staffing model using existing Village staff. The additional costs associated with Administrative Adjudication include: • Potential staff overtime costs if hearings are not held during normal business house (e.g. hearings scheduled after-hours to accommodate working residents/business owners) o Staff recommends that these hearings occur during the normal course of business, similar to when current Village Tow Hearings occur. The Administrative Adjudication hearings would take place once per month preferably at a time in the middle of the normal workday. These hearings would last up to approximately two hours. Staff surveyed other neighboring communities with a majority having their hearings scheduled during the normal business day. • An appointed hearing officer, which would cost $175 per hour based on our current village agreement with David Eterno who oversees our current towing adjudication process; • A recording secretary at $50 per hour to record and manage the proceeding (audio/video could be used as a replacement, but an employee would still be needed for supervision); • Security: use of Community Service Officer at $35 an hour, or Village police officer at $56/hour; and • Equipment Costs: Two laptops (1 for check-in/ 1 for entering determinations), shared printer, shared audio recorder at a total cost of roughly $3,000. This cost is inclusive of code enforcement costs as our code enforcement department has zebra printers. • Village Prosecutor: which would cost $140 per hour based on our current village agreement with Heather Ryan Based on the table below, preliminary staff costs total approximately $11,400 a year. Additional costs total $20,000, which include: $3,000 for equipment, $17,000 for DACRA Administrative Adjudication module costs, plus the $3 per violation after the first 500 violations. The Page 6 of 8  estimated total startup costs for the first year are $31,400. The second year cost would decrease by $5,000 due to the initial costs of the DACRA module. Personnel Costs Costs Per Hour Monthly Costs Yearly Costs Hearing Officer $175 $350 $4,200 Recording Secretary $50 $100 $1,200 *Community Service Officer $35 $70 $840 Code Enforcement Officer $75 $150 $1,800 Village Prosector $140 $280 $3,360 Total $475 $ 950 $11,400 *cost per hour is based on Village pay scale’s middle of the range hourly rate *the use of a Police Officer in place of a CSO would bring the monthly cost to $112 and $1,344 annually The code Enforcement Officer and Hearing Officer are currently contractual staff Administrative Adjudication Hearings held once a month for 2 hours in duration CONCLUSION: There are several benefits of Administrative Adjudication to both Village staff, residents, and business owners. It provides for additional enforcement tools, keeps the proceedings close to home, and the fines are kept by the Village. There are also some drawbacks with the primary one being start up and on-going operational costs. Based on 2024-2025 averages, the Community Development Department has issued 745 notice of violations and the Police Department has issued 1,414 violations, which could be brought to an administrative adjudication hearing. If the direction of the Board is to pursue an Administrative Adjudication program, then as part of the implementation of the program, staff would bring back to the Board a comprehensive review of fine structure for review and approval. Staff would also recommend including an Administrative Adjudication Administrative Fee (court fee) in the amount of $25. Neighboring communities that include court fees as part of their Administrative Adjudication programs generally charge between $25 and $50 per violation in court fees. Further discussion can be had for fine escalation for fines not paid within 15 days of the violation issuance. In addition, Collections requires a Determination of Liability entered by a Hearing Officer post-hearing to consider the unpaid citation as collectible debt. We can provide the option to contest by email or mail as well. Our fine structures and administrative fees can be reasonable and still cover the costs of running the program. Offering additional time to pay at the reduced fine amount (15 days instead of 10) may prove beneficial. POLICY QUESTION: Does the Board want staff to move forward with creating an administrative Adjudication program for Community Development violations and Police Department violations with a 2027 implementation? If so, examples of the types of violations that staff would recommend bringing under the Administrative Adjudication umbrella would be: • High grass/weeds • Work without a permit • Construction hours violations • General property maintenance code violations • Zoning code violations • Rental Licensing Program Expansion (violations) • Moving violations o E-bike violations • Vehicle equipment violations o Expired/no valid vehicle stickers, headlight/taillight, seatbelt violations, etc. Page 7 of 8 • Criminal offenses for first time offenders o Assault, Alcohol and Cannabis Offenses, Criminal Damage to Property, Disorderly Conduct, Drug Equipment, Retail Theft, Theft, Tobacco violations, Weapons violations, and Trespassing Page 8 of 8