Joliet Township declares board vacancy with Ferrell’s departure

The Joliet Township board unanimously approved declaring a vacancy on the board after a trustee with a felony record lost his appeal to hold elected office.

The board voted in a 3-0 vote on Tuesday to declare a vacancy for the seat that was held by Karl Ferrell. The trustees plan to vote for a new person to take Ferrell’s seat at their next scheduled meeting on Aug. 8.

Ferrell received positive comments from his colleagues with the township.

“You don’t need a title to do good work,” said Alicia Morales, the township’s clerk.

Last year, Will County Judge John Anderson ruled Ferrell cannot not hold a seat on the township board because of his multiple felony convictions.

Those convictions include a drug possession charge in 1998 in Will County, a drug charge in 2005 in Cook County, and drug possession and unlawful use of a weapon charges in 2010 in Will County.

The 3rd District Appellate Court in Ottawa upheld Anderson’s ruling on April 27.

About 20 minutes before Tuesday’s township meeting, Ferrell held a press conference inside the township building with Tycee Bell, former Joliet mayoral candidate and member of Chicago nonprofit group, Equity And Transformation.

Ferrell said there are laws that prevent people who’ve served their sentence for felony convictions like him from being “fully free.” As an example, he cited the Illinois Township Code that prohibits him from holding township office.

He said those laws prevent “people who are in the community, who know the problems of the community from being able to speak for the community.”

“I had over 3,000 votes, over 3,000 people who said that they believe that I could be the voice for them,” Ferrell said.

Ferrell received 3,222 votes in the April 6, 2021 election when he first ran for a township seat.

Ferrell has exhausted most of his legal options at this point. One option that was still on the table is a decision from Gov. JB Pritzker to grant Ferrell’s petition for a “restoration of rights” that would make him eligible for elected office.

“It’s still pending and that’s really the last avenue for relief he has available for him at this point,” said John Partelow, Ferrell’s attorney.