High Sent on behalf of Chet ofStat/ Chit Diversity Ofcer Jennifer Ballard Croft Dear Colleagues, ‘As you know, on July 3rd we were directed by the County Budget Office to cut our 2017 fiscal year budget by $4 million The suggested plan from the Budget Office called for layoffs of over 160 State's Attorney employees. The executive team has spent every day since then advocating for our employees and negotiating with the County to mitigate the impact of the budget deficit on our personnel. We first looked at our operations, to identify as many non-personnel cuts as possible. Next, in an effort to share the sacrifice of the cutbacks across the Office, there will be two mandatory unpaid furlough days for non-union staff. the furlough days will be on Friday, September 1” (the Friday before Labor Day) and Friday, November 23" (the Friday after Thanksgiving). More information regarding the furlough daysis forthcoming, These efforts allowed us to significantly reduce the recommended layoffs, but in the end we were still forced to eliminate 39 positions today. Identifying individuals for layoffs was a very difficult task. We thank all of those affected by this reduction in force for their dedication to this Office and their time and service to the citizens of Cook County. For those who remain, we recognize the difficulty of the departure of our colleagues, partners and friends. First Assistant, Eric Sussman, and our Chief Deputy, April Perry, will be in the Jury Room at 26"" Street today at 3pm to address today’s reduction in force and to answer questions you may have. For those of you that are unable to make it to 26" Street this afternoon, please feel free to reach out to any member of the executive team about questions or concerns about our operations moving forward. I thank you all for your patience, hard work and dedication during this very difficult time for our Office. Respectfully, Jennifer Ballard Croft Jennifer Ballard Croft, Esq. Chief of Staff/Chief Diversity Officer Cook County State's Attorney's Office 69 W. Washington, Suite 3200 ‘Chicago, IL 60602