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Trustee allowed to join Campton Hills meeting remotely after council debate over statutory limits
Summary
After a lengthy floor debate about the scope of the Illinois Open Meetings Act and village code, the Campton Hills board voted to permit Trustee Janet Buren to participate remotely, saying she had "real estate business" that prevented her attendance. The board required roll-call voting for subsequent actions at the special meeting.
The Village of Campton Hills board on April 21 debated and then approved a request for Trustee Janet Buren to join the meeting remotely after she told members she was attending to "real estate business."
Board members spent more than an hour questioning whether the trustee's stated reason fit the narrow exceptions in the village code, which mirrors Illinois law on remote participation. One member summarized the code’s key phrase as requiring a person to be "prevented from physically attending," and said voluntary travel for personal business does not clearly qualify. Trustee Buren said she could not attend in person because she was out of town on business.
After follow-up questions and legal framing from the village attorney and clerk about who ultimately determines eligibility, the motion to allow remote participation passed on a roll-call vote. The board chair noted that state law requires that "all subsequent votes at this meeting will have to be roll call" because a member was participating remotely.
The vote resolved an immediate procedural question but left open how consistent the board will be in applying the statute in future cases. One trustee urged the board to be more conservative in approving remote participation to preserve fairness across members; another pointed out guidance suggesting self-employed trustees traveling for employment purposes may qualify if they could not reschedule.
The board then proceeded with the meeting and opened its scheduled public hearing on the fiscal year 2027 budget.
