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Resident alleges code enforcement violated Fourth Amendment during home visit
Summary
A resident told the Elgin City Council that city code enforcement officers entered his mother-in-law’s property on July 1 without permission and photographed areas not visible from public space, and urged the council to change the ordinance to avoid privacy intrusions for home modifications.
A resident told the Elgin City Council on July 15 that city code enforcement officers entered his mother-in-law’s property on July 1 without permission and photographed areas he said were not visible from public space, which he described as a violation of her Fourth Amendment rights.
Nicholas Teague, a resident who spoke during the meeting’s public-comment period, said the incident involved his mother-in-law, Martha Jean Wertgen, and that officers entered the property after seeing construction materials. "The civil rights of my mother-in-law, Martha Jean Wertgen, were violated, specifically her fourth amendment right against unlawful search and seizure," Teague said.
Teague said he commended the city for issuing an apology letter but urged the council to revise the city ordinance that, he said, permitted intrusive inspections tied to home modifications for physical disabilities. "But what's more concerning is the way the code is permit for a person to make their home more adaptable to their physical disabilities so that they can continue on with a normal course of life is an egregious overreach," he said.
Teague asked the council to "immediately make changes to the city ordinance that would not require such an invasion to the privacy of someone's home for something as simple as making their home more adaptable," saying he believed council members would not knowingly approve such a requirement.
The remarks were delivered during the meeting’s public-comment segment; the transcript does not record a response, formal staff report, or a council vote on the matter that evening. No motion or formal action on the ordinance was recorded in the provided transcript.
Context and clarifying details in the public comment: Teague said the alleged entry occurred on July 1, 2025, the homeowner was not present when officers entered, the officers took close-up photographs of property areas Teague said were not visible from public space, and the speaker said the city later issued an apology letter. Teague framed his request as asking the council to change the ordinance language that he said allowed the inspection.
This item was raised during public comment and was recorded in the council’s meeting minutes; the transcript does not indicate follow-up direction to staff or a scheduled review of the code during the meeting.
