Illinois Open Meetings Act

The Illinois Open Meetings Act is covered in the Compiled Statutes at 5 ILCS 120/. To find it easily, just Google "Illinois Open Meetings Act."

Section 2.01 states that all meetings required by this Act be public and held at specified times and places which are convenient and open to the public.

It further states that a "...quorum of members of a public body must be physically present at the location of an open meeting."

Can a public body, such as the McHenry County Sheriff's Department Merit Commission, hold an open meeting, such as a Regular Meeting or a Special Meeting, if a quorum is not physically present?

If you read the Open Meetings Act, it appears to me that it cannot. But on October 21, 2008, not only did the Merit Commission meet without a quorum physically present, not even one member (not the Chairman, not any of the other four Commissioners) was present in the room. Not one. They met by telephone.

And at that meeting they made an extremely important decision. That decision was to fire Deputy Zane Seipler.

I addressed this issue of meeting telephonically, rather than in person, with Merit Commission Janelle Crowley, who is also the Director of Human Resources for the City of Woodstock. She directed me to the attorney for the Merit Commission.

The legal fees of the Merit Commission must be huge, if a simple, straight-forward answer cannot be obtained from the Commission without the involvement of its attorney. The attorney said there was no problem.

Well, according to the actual wording of the Illinois Open Meetings Act, there is a problem!

And now the bigger question. If a Commission holds an illegal meeting and makes a decision, is that decision valid? Can any decision made at an illegal meeting be valid?

I say, "No, and No."

So maybe Deputy Seipler is still Deputy Zeipler. And he should be collecting his paycheck on time, every time.

One of these days I might meet Zane. I seem to take up a lot of causes without ever meeting the person who is being harmed.

The Purpose of the Merit Commission is: "To ensure the citizens of McHenry County that there is a fair and equal opportunity system for the employment, promotion, discipline and discharge of full-time Deputy Sheriffs."

Is there?