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LaSalle County clerk waives late fees for economic-interest filings after notice and system problems
Summary
After mail and email-notification problems left dozens of officials with missing or unrecorded statements of economic interest, the county clerk said certified notices were mailed May 8 and she will waive late fees for filings received within 30 days of that certified-mail notice; the board discussed process improvements.
LaSalle County officials spent a significant portion of the meeting on compliance problems tied to statements of economic interest (SEI). The county clerk described the statutory filing process and said the office sent mass email and mailed notices based on units of local government's certified lists; when many returns did not arrive or were not recorded, the clerk sent 186 certified letters on May 8.
The clerk told the board that, as of the morning of the meeting, about 80 filings remained unrecorded but staff expected 20—2 to arrive that day. After consulting the State's Attorney's Office, the clerk said she would waive the late-filing fees and penalties for people who turn in their statements within 30 days of the May 8 certified-mail notice.
Board members and staff described confusion in the first year the county used a new electronic system: some officials had asked to receive notices by mail but did not receive them; the new email mass-notification system lacked a read-receipt feature, so the county could not confirm recipients had opened messages. Several board members asked the clerk to run down physical files that may have been submitted but not logged; the clerk said staff would review and reconcile physical filings against the system.
The board discussed next steps: better unit-of-government certification practices, clearer communications with affected officials, and technical fixes (read receipts) in the county's vendor system. The clerk asked board members to forward constituent calls about the issue to her office for resolution.
The State's Attorney's Office advised the clerk that certified letters mailed May 8 met statutory notice requirements, and the clerk said she would not impose fines for filings returned within the agreed 30-day correction window.
