Bob Enright, Will County Circuit Clerk

Candidate Full Name: Bob Enright

Office: Will County Circuit Clerk

Party: Democrat

Email Address: bobenright1@gmail.com

Web Site: www.bobenright.com

Campaign Name: Citizens to Elect Bob Enright

Mailing Address: 218 Roberts Rd. New Lenox, IL. 60451

Phone: 15) 483-4566

Survey Questions (Character limit of 2,000 per response)

1. Please tell us about yourself, your background and why you believe you are qualified to hold this office.

I have been married for 33 years, have 2 daughters and live in New Lenox.

I am a U.S. Army veteran and received my Bachelor's degree in Computer Science by going to school at night and using the GI Bill.

I had several years private sector experience prior to going to work for the Will County Circuit Clerk in 1997. I spent 15 years modernizing and advancing the office. When I started there were no pc's and no email. I worked every day the first 6 months after I started, including Thanksgiving and Christmas. I missed one day of work the first 2 years. I mention this to demonstrate my work ethic.

A few accomplishments include;

I implemented electronic orders of protection.

I implemented electronic traffic tickets in most of the police departments.

I implemented electronic warrants with the Sheriff Department.

I implemented and maintained the current (outdated) case management system.

I implemented a drug test result system for the Probation Department.

I implemented a Public Defender computer system.

To educate myself on court operations I have been to courts throughout the United States, counties throughout Illinois and federal court. I have attended numerous educational conferences and seminars and worked with experts in courts from all over the United States.

There is no candidate past or present who has my level of education, accomplishments and ideas.

2. Upon election, what immediate steps would you take to improve the efficiency of the Clerk's operations?

I will bring a long term vision to the Circuit Clerks office that includes the entire justice community which includes: judges, law enforcement, legal community, county officials and the public.

If the Sheriff enters information and prints a form, then the States Attorney enters the same information and prints a form, then the Circuit Clerk enters the same information and prints a form, then the Public Defender enters the same information....... there is not a quick fix. We need a collaborative effort. This is why you need to elect Bob Enright, to combat waste and inefficiency. This level of change will be difficult.

On the criminal side, information will be entered once by law enforcement using e-charging and e-citation and that information will be used to populate systems throughout the county and state.

On the civil side, attorneys and the public will use e-file and e-serve to file their civil cases from anywhere at any time.

The judge will have an electronic case file on the bench. An online portal will provide access for attorneys, the public and law enforcement to gain access to their cases. Circuit Clerk employees will focus on quality and customer service using state of the art technology in the office and in the court room. Change is hard but not impossible. The citizens should expect more from their elected officials.

I will start improving customer service to the public and justice partners immediately including;

My goal is to have 25% of my new hires veterans or their spouses.

Open the Circuit Clerk's office for business Saturday mornings.

Provide Circuit Clerk services to Eastern, Western, and Northern Will County.

Reduce the time to obtain an order of protection by streamlining a convoluted process.

I will apply for, and I am confident I will obtain grant funds to assist in combating domestic violence.

I suggest we provide robo call service (text or voice) to remind probationers, victims, witnesses, defendants, and attorneys of court obligations.

Court is expensive. We should look for areas where costly court appearance can be avoided.

Thousands of hours are spent each month on monitoring community service hours. Over $10, 000,000 worth of hours have yet to be completed. We need to assess how to assist people in completing their community service hours and avoid costly court appearances.

Thousands of hours are spent each month dealing with driving on a suspended license cases where the defendant is poor and couldn't pay a traffic ticket. We need to free up the courts and find ways to assist the poor in meeting their court obligation, reinstate their driving privileges and avoid costly court appearances.

3. Some experts say that the Clerk's operations would be better served by a non-elected technocrat than a politician. Would you favor converting the office to a non-elected position before the next election cycle?

No, that would be counterproductive.

4. Voters say they are turned off by the negative and misleading TV ads that dominate the air waves. However, campaign and election experts say candidates rely on them because "they work." Will you and your campaign agree to refrain from running negative ads from now until the election?

I will not be running any ads. I need voters to compare my education, my private sector experience, my accomplishments and my vision to my opponents. Then ask yourself, who would you hire?