Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Local Government topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Tazewell County Board sworn in, given historic gavel; members urged to complete FOIA, Open Meetings training
Summary
Newly elected Tazewell County board members were sworn in at an organizational meeting that included presentation of a ceremonial gavel from the county's historic courthouse and reminders to complete required FOIA and Open Meetings Act training. A motion to adopt rules of order was made but approval was not recorded.
Tazewell County swore in newly elected county board members during an organizational meeting, presented a historic ceremonial gavel to the board chair and reminded members to complete required training for public officials.
Judge Christosop administered the oath of office aloud, reciting a pledge “to support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Illinois” as individual members came forward to take the oath. Several newly sworn members were named during the ceremony including Ralph Dean Meinle, Johnny Hopkins, Eric Stall, Michael Harris, William Atkins and Tammy Rich Simpson.
After the swearing-in, an official told members they must complete FOIA and Open Meetings Act training through the Illinois attorney general’s website and submit the completion certificates to the county office for filing. The official said the county provided a UCCI training manual for county board members and instructed members to print or email certificates upon finishing the online courses.
The chair received a ceremonial gavel made from walnut benches salvaged from Tazewell County’s third courthouse. The presenter described the piece as a keepsake passed from chairman to chairman and said the benches had been “touched by Abraham Lincoln, by Stephen Douglas, by Robert Ingersoll,” highlighting the gavel’s historical provenance.
During the meeting’s procedural business, the chair asked for communications from the public and moved to adopt the rules of order included in members’ packets. A board member raised a question about a typographical or textual problem in the rules packet (section 33.03, board staff, item a) and asked whether the change should be made immediately. The transcript records that the motion had a second but does not record a formal vote to adopt the rules.
The meeting continued with a roll call, the announcement that a quorum was present, and an invocation. Next procedural steps noted in the meeting were completing required training and addressing the typographical correction before final adoption of the rules.
