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Committee signs off on ethics and bond updates, sends Chapter 32 to executive committee
Summary
The committee reviewed Chapter 32 revisions — including ethics language required by statute and bond amounts — and agreed to forward the chapter to the county executive committee for further processing.
The Will County Rules and Ordinances Committee reviewed edits to Chapter 32, which contains the county's ethics ordinance and a list of required bonds for county offices, and voted to forward the chapter to the county executive committee as amended.
Staff and the committee discussed that much of the ethics language must be enacted "substantially" as provided by state statute; members noted the statute-driven text leaves limited room for local changes. The ethics sections under review cover required ethics training, prohibited political activities, a gift ban, and definitions. Committee members were reminded that the county's ethics advisor is a contract attorney selected by the county executive.
A substantial portion of the discussion addressed surety bonds for elected and appointed offices. Phil (staff) said the bond amounts listed in the draft mirror state statute figures or the county's current established amounts. He explained the county can self-insure in some cases instead of buying private surety bonds and that doing so would allow the county to "self bond" and save money; the county collector's bond is excluded from self-bonding under current law because the collector's duties are set in the revenue code. Phil recommended leaving a statutory million-dollar bond for the county executive out of the code unless state law requires it, because adding a local statutory requirement could impair the officeholder's ability to serve without a state statute backing the requirement.
Members also discussed indemnification language for the regional superintendent of schools and noted the county already indemnifies certain officers by statute; the draft moves the regional superintendent into optional indemnification language where the board may choose to do so. Phil said public defender indemnification is now a statutory "shall" and did not need to be separately listed in the county code.
The committee approved a motion to send Chapter 32 (as amended) to the county executive committee. That motion was made and seconded; the transcript records a voice vote in favor. Logan was recorded as the second on the motion.
