Barsanti reflects on tenure as state's attorney

ST. CHARLES – John Barsanti walked into the conference room at the Kane County Judicial Center and took a seat behind several large stacks of papers piled on a table.

The county's outgoing state's attorney smiled as he gestured toward the files, each one a year-end report. The papers helped sum up his office's achievements during his tenure that began in 2004 and will end Tuesday, when he is sworn in as a circuit court judge in the 16th Judicial Circuit. He will be replaced by Joseph McMahon, a Geneva-based attorney.

It will be a new chapter for Barsanti, 58, who began his career in the office in 1979. There was a period from 2000 through 2004 in which he left for private practice, but otherwise he has worked in the state's attorney's office.

"Really, this has been my career," Barsanti said.

More than anything, Barsanti said he is proud that his office developed a reputation for going to trial. In 2005, his first full year in office, there were 141 felony cases tried. He said in the years before that, the office averaged about 60 a year. He said defense attorneys would take note if the state's attorney's office did not often go to trial and would use it to their advantage. He wanted his office to be known as one that was ready for litigation, and he was ready to prove it.

"I wanted people to know that if you wanted to learn how to be a trial lawyer, then this is the place to go," he said. "You can learn to try a case, because that is what we do here. If you get hired today, tomorrow you'll be in traffic court trying a speeder case before the afternoon is over."

Barsanti's time as state's attorney also was highlighted by several high-profile initiatives, the most recent of which was a domestic violence diversion program launched just last month.

A commitment to fighting domestic violence won him fans, including Linda Healy, the former executive director of Mutual Ground.

"I think we're all going to be lucky to have him as a judge, but I'm really sad to see him go as a state's attorney," Healy said. "He has been marvelous. He has made domestic violence one of his priorities. I have great respect for the man, just enormous respect."

Then there were the "no-refusal" weekends, a program that targeted drunken driving. During the weekends, police obtained warrants for DUI suspects who refused to submit to a breath test.

Barsanti said that since Illinois does not allow suspects to refuse DUI tests – but also does not permit police to forcibly obtain breath, urine or blood samples to test – prosecutors charged those who refused to submit to a breath test with obstruction of justice.

While the weekends were successful in leading to arrests, Barsanti acknowledged they also had detractors.

"People have this innate gut-level problem with being in the car and thinking somebody pulls them over and sticks a needle in their arm," he said. "That's how they think it through. It doesn't happen that way."

Besides the fact that the goal wasn't to force suspects to submit to tests, Barsanti also said he wasn't necessarily targeting those who might have had a drink or two at dinner.

"By and large, the people who refused were at least second-timers," he said.

Among other significant initiatives:

• A cold-case prosecution in 2007, in which 31 members of the Latin Kings street gang were charged with 22 murders in cases that ranged from 1989 through 2005.

• The office started using SCRAM bracelets. The program, which stands for Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitor, quickly had 136 defendants putting on the bracelets.

• Operation Shadow led to the arrests of suspects who drove to the judicial center despite having a suspended or revoked driver's license. Suspects were followed from the court by undercover officers, who charged the suspects once they began to drive their vehicles.

• Barsanti brought in a public information officer, Chris Nelson, which Barsanti says has helped boost morale and awareness as publicity of the office has increased.

Barsanti said his most difficult challenge was the department's budget. He said those who work at his office are among the lowest paid in the state, and there have not been raises over the last few years. Still, he's proud that he's been able to meet the budget challenges without layoffs or furloughs.

"What I've not been able to do is pay these people what they are worth or pay them even enough to keep their heads above water," he said. "If there's something I wish I could have done better, it's somehow getting these guys more money. But I don't know how we could have got that done."

Barsanti now likely will head to Kendall County as his first assignment, which he says makes sense considering his name is on every criminal charge in the county "and it probably will be for the bulk of the charges for at least a year."

He considers the job of a judge to be the ultimate job, but he doesn't believe it's that much different than the state's attorney job as far as its approach.

"In the end, you are asking a person, 'Can you be fair to both sides?' " he said. "And I am certain I can."