DuPage County Clerk Jean Kaczmarek has filed a lawsuit against County Board Chair Deborah Conroy, Auditor Bill White and the County Board amid an ongoing tussle over operational procedures related to paying vendors’ bills.
In her suit, Kaczmarek argues she has the statutory authority to control internal operations within her office and autonomously can procure her own equipment, materials, and service contracts to perform her elected duties.
Countersuit comes after legal filing against Kaczmarek last month
Kaczmarek’s lawsuit against Conroy, White, and the board comes on the heels of a legal filing against her office last month.
In that lawsuit, county officials outside Kaczmarek’s office are alleging she is not indicating how much a vendor should be paid for a good or service, which is against policies and procedures they have set.
The County Board has rejected bills out of Kaczmarek’s office for exceeding line item limitations. By not following board policies, they argue Kaczmarek is not following Illinois’ Local Government Prompt Payment Act. The legislation stipulates local units of government must pay for a vendor or contractor’s goods or services within 30 days of billing.
Referencing guidance from Illinois Attorney General’s office
In a news release outlining the basis for her countersuit, Kaczmarek pointed to language from the Illinois Attorney General’s office in April 2023, which reportedly was provided to DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin.
According to the news release, the Illinois Attorney General’s office has provided guidance stating, “Absent a specific statutory provision providing otherwise, a County Board’s budgetary authority for county officers operating under internal control provisions is limited solely to the appropriation of aggregate or lump sum dollar amounts for the items delineated in their internal control statutes — namely, equipment, materials and services.”
“This lawsuit repeats the same points of law my office has been raising for over two years,” Kaczmarek said in a statement. “Despite plain and unambiguous language backing us up, the State’s Attorney chooses to ignore it.”
Protocol for representation
At a meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 22, the County Board briefly discussed Kaczmarek’s lawsuit — most notably, the attorneys representing her.
Under normal protocol, Berlin, as DuPage County’s state’s attorney, would represent Kaczmarek. Since Berlin is representing Conroy, White, and the board, however, Kaczmarek has the ability to seek other legal representation.
DuPage County Chief Judge Bonnie Wheaton initially appointed two private attorneys – Kenneth Florey and Logan Sweeney from Robbins Schwartz — to represent Kaczmarek in lieu of Berlin. A third attorney, Ed Mullen with Bucktown Law, was later added to the team.
County Board commissioner Grant Eckhoff, who represents the 4th District, questioned the cost of having multiple attorneys representing Kaczmarek.
“I assume we’re paying — ‘we’ being the residents of DuPage County,” Eckhoff said.
A representative from Berlin’s office indicated at the County Board meeting Wheaton has the final authority on billing.
“There are a lot of opinions, but this is the authority that our chief justice has, so we have to trust that,” Conroy said.
Hoping for a quick resolution
In her brief remarks on the matter, Conroy also expressed optimism the issue would be resolved in short order.
“Our understanding is that this is a mandamus decision, and it should be something that’s done fairly quickly,” Conroy said. “It’s pretty cut and dry.”
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