DUI felony in Michigan halts Campton Hills trustee-elect from being seated

CAMPTON HILLS – Campton Hills trustee-elect Timothy Morgan did not take the oath of office and was not seated during the Village Board meeting May 2 after he was warned he could be removed because of a 2002 felony DUI conviction in Michigan.

Kane County State’s Attorney Jamie Mosser warned Morgan she would take steps to remove him because the felony conviction in Michigan disqualifies him from holding office in Illinois.

In a May 2 letter to Campton Hills officials, Mosser wrote she confirmed that Morgan pleaded guilty to felony DUI on March 4, 2002, in Michigan, and was unable to serve in Campton Hills, according to documents released after a Freedom of Information Act request.

“A ‘person is not eligible to take the oath of office for a municipal office if that person ... has been convicted in any court located in the United States of any infamous crime, bribery, perjury or other felony, unless such person is again restored to his or her rights of citizenship,’” Mosser wrote. “If a person pleads guilty to a criminal offense such as a felony, the office for which he was elected is rendered vacant.”

While other newly elected officials in Campton Hills were sworn in May 2, Village President Barbara Wojnicki read a letter from Morgan’s attorney stating he would not take the oath and be seated. Therefore his seat was declared vacant.

In an email, Mosser wrote she was preparing a statement regarding Morgan.

“I’m devastated,” Morgan said. “I already paid for my crime. I did what I had to do. I rehabilitated my whole life. I did everything I had to do. For 22 years, I have been an exemplary citizen with not even a parking ticket.”

Morgan, 60, was 39 at the time of the Michigan offense.

Oakland, Michigan, court records referred to Morgan’s two previous DUI convictions in 1992 and 1995 in Ohio. Under Michigan law, the third DUI is a felony offense.

Morgan pleaded guilty to the felony DUI without a plea deal, records show.

“State in your words what you did: I drank four or five Canadian Clubs and sodas on my anniversary with my wife,” Michigan records show. “I drank enough to negatively affect my driving. And I drove home [or attempted to]. I made a terrible mistake.”

Michigan court records show Morgan was sentenced to 30 days in jail with work release, 18 months of probation, 60 days of community service, ordered not to possess or use any alcoholic beverages, use a Breathalyzer in his vehicle for a year and pay a fine of $2,430.

Morgan said he believed his record in Michigan would be expunged after 10 years if there were no additional criminal charges.

“I am aware that the expungement laws were changed in Michigan in 2021, [but] DUI offenses and a DUI conviction stays on your record,” Morgan’s attorney Joseph McMahon wrote in an April 28 letter to Morgan. “I want to emphasize that if you believe you are eligible for an expungement in Michigan, you should seek the advice of an attorney in Michigan.”

McMahon wrote that if Mosser declined to seek Morgan’s dismissal as a trustee, a private citizen also could seek to have him removed.

Morgan, along with Wojnicki, Janet Burson and Nicolas Boatner, swept the April 4 election in Campton Hills, replacing four incumbents.

“Tim was very eager and enthusiastic about representing the village of Campton Hills as one of our trustees,” Wojnicki said. “It is unfortunate he was not able to be sworn in as a trustee. I wish Tim and his family the best always.”