Joliet Township trustee with felony record loses appeal to stay in office

A Joliet Township trustee’s time on the township board could soon be over following an appellate court decision to uphold a Will County judge’s ruling that he is not qualified to sit on the board because of his past felony convictions.

The 3rd District Appellate Court in Ottawa delivered an opinion Thursday that sided against Joliet Township Trustee Karl Ferrell in his appeal of Judge John Anderson’s June 24, 2022 decision to kick him off the township board.

One of the appellate court justices contended that a pardon of Ferrell’s felony convictions from Gov. JB Pritzker would not help him stay on the board.

“Even if Ferrell’s petition for a pardon is granted, it would not change the fact that he still had the felony convictions at the time he took the oath to serve as Joliet Township trustee and therefore was ineligible,” Appellate Court Justice Mary McDade wrote.

The appellate court also rejected suspending the appeal process until Pritzker acts on Ferrell’s petition for a pardon.

“Even if a pardon is ultimately granted, it is unknown whether the governor will apply the pardon retroactively,” according to the appellate decision.

Calls to Ferrell and his attorney, John Partelow, were not returned Thursday.

Joliet Township Trustee Karl Ferrell holds a megaphone while speaking to a group of protestors gathered in downtown Joliet near the Will County Courthouse on Thursday, Oct. 20, 2022, in support of the SAFE-T Act. (Felix Sarver)

A new trustee could be appointed to fill Ferrell’s vacant at one of the township board’s meetings scheduled for May 9 or June 13, according to Bryan Wellner, the township’s attorney.

Ferrell was first elected to the Joliet Township board April 6, 2021, running as part of a slate of candidates that included Alicia Morales, Suzanna Ibarra, Cesar Escutia, Raymond Slattery and Angel Contreras, who will go on trial in October on felony DUI charges.

In December 2021, Will County State Attorney James Glasgow’s office notified Joliet Township of Ferrell’s ineligibility for office based on his felony convictions. After Ferrell didn’t step down, the state’s attorney’s office took Ferrell to court March 9, 2022 to remove him from office.

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Ferrell argued the long delay from the state’s attorney’s office in pursuing its case against him was “unreasonable and inexcusable” but that delay was “largely attributable to Ferrell’s own actions,” according to the appellate court’s decision.

“In his candidacy form, Ferrell falsely represented that he was eligible to serve as a trustee. The state claims that it discovered that Ferrell was ineligible approximately seven months after his election, and Ferrell does not dispute that claim,” according to the appellate decision.

In Anderson’s June 24, 2022, ruling, he said the Illinois Township Code clearly states a person is not eligible for office if they’ve been convicted of a felony at the time they take the oath of office.

“No matter what positive changes Mr. Ferrell has made in his life following his incarceration, the statute is unmistakably clear,” Anderson wrote.

On Jan. 19, a grand jury indicted Ferrell on 16 felony charges over allegations that he fraudulently obtained $39,623 in Paycheck Protection Program loans and $11,203 in unemployment benefits. Ferrell pleaded not guilty to the charges in the case, which remains pending in court.