Will County Board awaits advice on filling vacancy

The Will County Board delayed an appointment to fill a vacancy as it awaits advice on how to proceed.

The uncertainty is the result of a court case involving the Champaign County Board and the Champaign County Executive disputing who has the authority to appoint a replacement to a board vacancy.

During last week’s Will County Board meeting, Speaker Mimi Cowan, D-Naperville, said the Will County State’s Attorney’s Office advised the board to hold off on filling the vacancy before it issues an opinion on how to proceed. As of last week, she said, the state’s attorney’s office had not issued that opinion.

The vacancy was created after Ken Harris, D-Bolingbrook, announced he would resign from the board late last year to take a post with DuPage Township. The County Board would have voted on the appointment of Elnalyn Costa of Bolingbrook to fill the vacancy left by Harris.

Will County officials stressed the delay in filling the vacancy did not stem from any internal disagreement, but that they just wanted the appointment to be legally sound.

“What happened in Champaign is dictating why we have to be careful with the exact wording,” Will County Executive Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant said, adding that she and the board are waiting on advice on how to word the resolution for the appointment “so we can move forward.”

Traditionally, the county executive is the officer tasked with appointing, essentially nominating, someone to fill a vacancy on the County Board. The sitting members then have to approve the appointment before that person can take the seat.

The replacement needs to be of the same party of the former member when they were elected and must live in their district.

Once a vacancy is declared on the board, the relevant local political party chair helps the executive come up with an appointee, and the board must approve the replacement within 60 days of declaring the vacancy.

The Will County State’s Attorney’s Office filed an amicus brief in the Champaign County case, essentially siding with the executive’s argument.

“The trial court correctly ruled that the County Executive, and not the County Board, has the power to appoint persons to fill vacancies in elected county offices,” the brief said.

Will County officials said they expect to have guidance on how to proceed to fill the vacancy next month.