What can McHenry County learn from Springfield?
Most would quickly say, "Not much." But how about this one?
An Associated Press article today reports on finding by a State auditor that Blago hired outside lawyers to the tune of $7,100,000, swallowing only $22,000 into the budget of his own office. It said, "The audit also criticized Blagojevich for hiring outside lawyers at hundreds of dollars an hour instead of using the attorney general's office and for not seeking competitive bids on the legal services."
This caused me to wonder about the outside legal expenses of the McHenry County Sheriff's Department. The Sheriff has an attorney; he is the McHenry County State's Attorney, Lou Bianchi. Do taxpayers have any idea at all how much MCSD spends each year on outside counsel and who the outside lawyers are?
How does the Sheriff evaluate the need for outside legal representation or decide which law firm(s) to grace with his business and the taxpayers' dollars?
You can read the AP article on the Chicago Tribune website. The Northwest Herald severely edited the AP article to reduce it to only six paragraphs.
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Been watching this for a number of years - both in the sheriff's office and other areas... remember the big battle over the co-generator plant south of Woodstock out in the farmland (everyone wants plenty of juice, they just don't want to see it produced)? The state's attorney decides which cases they will handle and which they will farm out, not the elected officials. If the state's attorney could hire attorneys competent to handle the cases, it wouldn't be a problem. But they can't seem to. Then too I think where insurance is involved, the insurance company who pays the bill, calls the shots. Try telling your auto insurance or homeowner's insurance (oops, forgot, you don't have one) carrier when you get sued that you want Attorney Smith or Jones to defend you. They will tell you to sit down, shut up and cooperate with the counsel they choose.
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