Joliet spent $838,018 in legal costs to defend against lawsuits filed in 2023 by the former mayor and a former city council member, city records show.

As of December 2025, the city recorded $285,159 in legal costs to defend against two lawsuits from former Mayor Bob O’Dekirk. Neither of O’Dekirk’s lawsuits survived the earliest stage of civil litigation in federal and state court.

The city also tallied $552,859 in costs as of December 2025 to defend against a Will County lawsuit case filed by former Joliet City Council member Don Dickinson. His case concerns allegations connected to O’Dekirk’s case.

Those figures do not account for any further litigation costs accrued in January or February.

Shaw Local received spreadsheets regarding the breakdown of civil litigation costs in those cases from the city in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.

The city is expected to receive a reimbursement of some legal costs from O’Dekirk’s lawsuit, which was dismissed last year.

Meanwhile, Dickinson’s case remains open and may go to trial this summer.

The city is not likely to receive back all the money spent to defeat O’Dekirk cases.

That’s because a Feb. 10 ruling from U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Cummings partially granted the city’s motion for sanctions against O’Dekirk’s attorneys.

Outside attorneys for the city requested sanctions against O’Dekirk’s attorneys for filing a lawsuit that only sought to hijack the federal courts to harass political foes.

Cummings found sanctions were warranted on one of the claims in O’Dekirk’s lawsuit, which the judge called a Section 1983 conspiracy claim.

The judge said O’Dekirk’s attorneys failed to conduct sufficient legal research regarding that claim.

Cummings encouraged O’Dekirk’s attorneys and the city’s attorneys to resolve among themselves the total fees and costs that O’Dekirk’s attorneys should pay.

During O’Dekirk’s two terms as mayor, he was sued three times. The city defended the mayor in those cases and two of them led to settlements against the city totaling $143,000.

O’Dekirk filed his federal lawsuit in 2023 after he lost in a landslide election to Joliet Mayor Terry D’Arcy.

The lawsuit claimed O’Dekirk was the victim of an alleged conspiracy devised by a “cabal,” which included former Joliet Police Chief Al Roechner and several others.

Dickinson’s lawsuit accused Roechner and former Joliet Deputy Police Chief Marc Reid of using him as an “unwitting tool” in their conspiracy against O’Dekirk. Roechner and Reid have denied the allegations.

Dickinson claims Roechner and Reid solicited him to make a police report against O’Dekirk, which resulted in Dickinson facing a charge of attempted disorderly conduct. The charge was dismissed in 2022.

Last year, Cummings found O’Dekirk’s federal claims were not legally sufficient to move forward and dismissed them. However, Cummings allowed O’Dekirk to refile his state claims in Will County.

O’Dekirk’s attorney, Michael Ettinger, told Shaw Local that his client’s claims were “filed [in] federal court, so there is no statute of limitations problem.”

Yet Kankakee County Judge Linda Parkhurst determined several of O’Dekirk’s state claims did exceed the statute of limitations. O’Dekirk’s case landed in Parkhurst’s courtroom based on a potential conflict in Will County.

Parkhurst’s ruling on Jan. 28 led to what city officials called a “complete legal victory” against O’Dekirk’s lawsuit.

In the Feb. 10 ruling, Cummings denied the motion for sanctions filed by former Joliet City Council member Jim McFarland, who was accused of participating in the alleged conspiracy against O’Dekirk. McFarland denied the allegation.

Cummings partially granted the motion for sanctions from the city, Joliet City Council member Pat Mudron, Reid and former Shaw Media Executive Editor Joseph Hosey.

O’Dekirk accused the latter three of also participating in the alleged conspiracy. They’ve denied the allegations.