DuPage County Clerk Jean Kaczmarek has filed suit against County Board Chair Deb Conroy, Auditor Bill White and the DuPage County Board over her right to manage the clerk’s office how she sees fit.
Kaczmarek’s lawsuit is a countermove to a suit filed last month by DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin seeking to compel the clerk to comply with county financial policies.
Kaczmarek’s lawsuit, filed in DuPage County Circuit Court through private attorneys, is the latest development in what’s been a longstanding dispute between the clerk and the county board over bill payment procedures and what authority Kaczmarek has over her office’s budget.
“This lawsuit repeats the same points of law my office has been raising for over two years,” Kaczmarek said in a news release from her office Monday. “Despite plain and unambiguous language backing us up, the state’s attorney chooses to ignore it.”
Kaczmarek could not be reached for comment Tuesday. Chief Deputy County Clerk Adam Johnson, reached by phone, declined further comment.
At the heart of litigation are the procedures for the payment of invoices to vendors.
In its original complaint on behalf of the county, the state’s attorney’s office flags Kaczmarek for failing “to comply with the county’s system of accounts and financial records.”
The state’s attorney’s suit alleges that the clerk is out of compliance with county policies because she “will not complete budget transfers when necessary” and “will not provide copies of contracts and/or service agreements pertinent to her payment requests.”
It also alleges that Kaczmarek will not convey the nature of various transactions to the county finance department, preventing transactions from being accounted for properly.
As a result, vendors have not been paid or are paid late, the original complaint alleges. The suit specifically points to clerical errors in the way vendor invoices have been filed. It claims that while Kaczmarek retains internal control over her office, the county relies on the clerk to delineate where exactly in her budget expenses should be paid from to ensure they can be adequately funded. The clerk has not been doing that, the complaint says.
The original complaint also charges that there are “vendors’ invoices that cannot be paid because of insufficient funds in the line item or fund the clerk coded for payment of these invoices.” It adds that the county “cannot simply transfer funds between items for the clerk without some direction,” as that would interfere with her internal control.
The clerk’s actions have made it so the county cannot verify amounts due to vendors, pay vendors or “maintain a system of accounting which provides transparency to the county’s taxpayers,” the original complaint said.
State’s attorney’s office spokesman Paul Darrah declined to comment on the ongoing litigation.
With her responding suit, Kaczmarek asserts her authority to control the internal operations of her office and to procure the necessary equipment, materials and services to perform her duties. To back up claims, the suit cites state law and several opinions issued by the Illinois attorney general.
Opinions the suit cites include a judgment that a county board’s budgetary authority is limited to lump sum appropriations for specifically equipment, material or services and that her office is not subject to appropriation limitations by line item.
It also references an opinion that precludes the county board or auditor from disapproving or stopping payment on invoices from the clerk’s office if there’s enough funding in her budget to cover requests.
“The plain language of the relevant Illinois Attorney General opinions and the Illinois Counties Code clearly provide the clerk’s office with the ability to control internal financial and spending decisions,” the suit says.
In countersuing, Kaczmarek has asked that the court order the county board to pay all outstanding invoices that she has approved for payment and to compel the board to pay future invoices going forward.
Last Friday, parties agreed to a court order facilitating the payment of “certain invoices” received by the clerk “in order to maintain the operations of the clerk’s office and to avoid late fees and/or litigation.” Invoices identified for payment totaled $325,911, court documents show. Several concern election-related services.
County spokesman Evan Shields was reached by phone Tuesday and asked what outstanding invoices from the clerk still remain but did not return with a response before press deadline.
Parties are scheduled to return to court Nov. 7 for status on case management, “payment of all remaining unpaid invoices and bills and the payment of all invoices and bills during the pendency of this action,” according to court documents.
