Records show Kendall prosecutor apologized to colleagues when resigning: ‘I know I have let you down.’

YORKVILLE – Kendall County First Assistant State’s Attorney Mark Shlifka apologized to his colleagues in an email the day he resigned, records show.

Shlifka resigned April 24 after it emerged that he had engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a woman who was both a complaining witness and a defendant in Kendall County court cases.

“I know I have let you down,” Shlifka wrote in an email sent to the entire state’s attorney’s office at 4:15 p.m. that day.

“I apologize to each and every one of you for letting you, the office, and all that we stand for, down,” Shlifka wrote in an email obtained in response to an Illinois Freedom of Information Act request.

“I was tasked with setting the standard for all of you and my conduct was not the proper course of action,” he said in the email. “This is obviously not how I saw my career in Kendall County ending but I have to do what is right and correct this situation.”

The previous Friday, April 21, the woman filed a lawsuit against Shlifka and Kendall County State’s Attorney Eric Weis.

The suit seeks more than $50,000 in compensatory damages from Shlifka and $50,000 in compensatory damages from Weis, who is accused of not properly supervising Shlifka, according to court records.

Weis said in an interview that he learned of the allegations at about 6 p.m. April 21.

At 8:28 p.m., Weis sent an email to his staff informing them that Shlifka had been placed on administrative leave until further notice, according to a document obtained in response to the FOIA request.

Shlifka’s letter of resignation to Weis dated April 24 was a brief two sentences: “Please accept this as my letter of resignation from the Kendall County State’s Attorney’s Office, effective on today’s date. It has been an honor to serve you, this office and the people of Kendall County.”

The next day, Weis sent a letter to the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission, as required by law.

“I became aware that former First Assistant State’s Attorney Mark Shlifka has engaged in an improper romantic relationship with an individual who was the complaining witness in one case and the defendant in another case while these cases were/are pending in Kendall County,” Weis wrote in his letter to the ARDC.

Shlifka was the assigned prosecutor in the first case and the supervisor over the assistant state’s attorney handling the second case, Weis continued in his letter.

According to the woman’s legal filing, she and Shlifka had been involved in a romantic relationship between March 2022 and March 2023. The lawsuit said she was the complaining witness and victim in two domestic battery cases and recently was the defendant in a DUI case.

“This sexual relationship between the defendant and the plaintiff was brazenly open. The defendant [Shlifka] took the plaintiff on vacations and speaking engagements with him, took her to a party where many Cook County judges and lawyers were present, stayed over at the plaintiff’s residence on many occasions and met her at a hotel near the Kendall County Courthouse on many occasions,” according to the woman’s lawsuit.

The woman was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol after a crash in December 2020 in Oswego. That case is in pre-trial proceedings, according to court records.

Shlifka came to Kendall County in February, 2018, after decades as an assistant state’s attorney in Cook County. He was highly regarded among his peers for his prosecutorial abilities and technical expertise.

In his parting email to colleagues, Shlifka took responsibility for his actions. He also offered an explanation and suggested that the full story has yet to emerge.

“I know there is, or will be, a lot of speculation, rumor and innuendo about why I have resigned, so I want to set the record straight. During a time of turmoil in my marriage including a months long period of separation from my wife, I was in a relationship with a woman who had charges pending in Kendall County,” Shlifka wrote. “Although I told her several times she needed to have a special prosecutor for her case, she insisted on not having one; instead she was determined to see if she could resolve the case with her attorney and the assigned ASA [Assistant State’s Attorney]. Her wishes should not have prevented me from notifying the office of this relationship.

“To the extent there are other claims you may hear about me, I assure you there are already many false ones out there. Unfortunately, I am not in a position to address them at this time,” Shlifka wrote, before offering his apology. He concluded the email by telling his colleagues that he would miss them and wished them good luck.