La Salle County needs more election judges, so compensation will be boosted 62%.

Thursday, a divided La Salle County Board approved an increase in pay for election judges from $185 per day to $300 per day, subject to reimbursement of $65 per judge.

We all want to make sure the elections are run correctly.

—  Doug Trager, board member

The vote was 16-11. Those voting no questioned the size of the jump.

“This is quite the increase, quite honestly,” said member Ray Gatza (R-Dimmick), one of the no votes. “If we need it, we need it, but there’s no stair-step.”

Board member Doug Trager (D-Ottawa) said the committee predicated the $300 on a base rate of $20 an hour, which was deemed “very fair” in light of the 15-hour day judges typically log.

“We all want to make sure the elections are run correctly,” Trager said.

County Clerk Jennifer Ebner said she is “about halfway” toward retaining a sufficient number of judges for the March 2026 primary election. Nevertheless, La Salle County has never hit the stated goal of 595 judges for the county’s 119 precincts; no nearby county has hit its maximum, Ebner said

Finally, the county board unanimously approved a labor contract with the Laborers International Union of the North America Local Union 393. The three-year deal, retroactive to last December, is for a 5% wage increase the first year, a 4.5% increase the second year and a 4% increase in the third.

In other matters, the board:

-Purchased new squad car cameras for the La Salle County Sheriff’s Office. The five-year contract was awarded to Axon, Inc. for five years $104,302.80

-Conferred the Student Excellence awards on Owen Supan of Tonica Grade School and Serenity Guzman of Marquette Academy

-Reconvenes at 1 p.m. Monday, Nov. 3