Will County Board advised to change process for filling vacancy

The Will County Board may have to change the way it has been filling its own vacancies for years.

That’s because the Will County State’s Attorney’s Office suggested a change in procedure in light of an ongoing legal battle between officials in Champaign County over how to fill board vacancies there.

The Will County Board needs to fill the vacancy left by the early resignation of Ken Harris, a Democrat from Bolingbrook, in December.

Typically, the county executive is the one who appoints someone to fill a vacancy with the approval of the board, but officials in Champaign County have argued the board itself should appoint to fill a vacant seat.

The Fourth District Appellate Court ruled a county board chair should be the one to make the appointment with approval from the board.

Both Will and Champaign counties operate under the same form of county government. So the state’s attorney’s office advised Will County officials to abide by the court’s ruling, even though it filed an amicus brief arguing it should be the county executive who makes the appointment.

In a letter explaining the state’s attorney’s office opinion, Mary Tatroe, the civil division chief, said, “Will County is placed in the position of attempting to comply with a decision that is unsupported by the language in the Counties Code.”

Tatroe said in the letter that to be in compliance with the court decision, the county board could elect a “chair” who would make the appointment. The board does not have a chair. It instead has a speaker who acts as the head of the board.

Speaker Mimi Cowan, D-Naperville, said Tuesday she was unsure how the board would proceed, but the issue is on the agenda for Thursday’s Executive Committee meeting.

While the court ruling changes the way the county government has conducted its business in the past, Cowan emphasized there is no disagreement with whom to appoint to the seat.

“We are all agreed on who the appointee should be,” Cowan said.

Last month’s county board agenda listed Elnalyn Costa of Bolingbrook to fill the vacancy.

State law requires that a person appointed to replace a county board member before his or her term is up be of the same political party and live in the same district of the departing member.

Also on Tuesday, board member Denise Winfrey, D-Joliet, said during a Legislative and Judicial Committee meeting there was already movement in Springfield to clarify the state law dictating the process.

“We don’t know how far or how fast that’s going to move,” said Winfrey, who chairs the committee.

“We’re keeping an eye on that,” Winfrey said.