Merit Commission Website - Stale!

Should the public be able to rely on information provided on local government agency webpages? Of course, it should be able to. But should the public rely on it?

Recently I was thinking about the McHenry County Sheriff's Department Merit Commission and its Regular Meetings. The dates for Regular Meetings are found with other commission meetings on the County Board's Calendar. But only the date and time are found there; not where the meetings are held.

That's fairly important; right? How can you show up at the right place, if the wrong place is published?

On the Merit Commission's webpage (http://co.mchenry.il.us/common/CountyDpt/Sheriff/shrMCommission.asp), information is clearly provided that the Regular Meetings (as distinguished from Special Meetings) are held on the second Wednesday of each month at 10:30AM in Room B120 of the Government Center, 2200 N. Seminary Ave. (Route 47), Woodstock.

Now that's pretty clear. Everyone knows where the Government Center is. It's easy to find. It's the big building on the east side of the street with the big parking lot.

Now there is just one problem. That's not where the meetings are.

How did I learn this?

Knowing that cameras and recording devices cannot be taken into the Government Center, I called Chief Parth of the courthouse security division. I knew about the restriction, and he confirmed it. He directed me to Chief Judge Sullivan's office, if I wanted to be excepted from the restriction.

The Illinois Open Meetings Act allows recording and photography at public meetings, so I called Judge Sullivan's office to find out how to get a Permit or an Authorization to take a camera and a recorder to the Regular Meetings of the Merit Commission in the Government Center.

I received excellent assistance at Chief Judge Sullivan's office. Yesterday I was promised a call back, and today I received the call. AND the information that the meetings are not held in the Government Center, but there are held in the Administrative Building at 667 Ware Road!

So, how long has the information on the Merit Commission's webpage been out-of-date?

Does the incorrect information constitute a violation of the Open Meetings Act by misdirecting a reader to the wrong location for a Regular Meeting of the Commission?

While an Agenda (a clickable link for the Agenda is placed on the County Board's Calendar a few days before the meeting) might (and probably does) show the correct location, the webpage of the Commission also needs to show the correct information. Let's hope the Merit Commission corrects this without delay.