* From the June 2nd edition of the Piatt County Journal-Republican…

The Piatt County State’s Attorney’s office has filed misdemeanor charges against five of six county board members, alleging they violated the Illinois Open Meetings Act during an online meeting held May 13.

During the meeting, the Zoom conference was apparently disconnected when the board went into a closed session to discuss the salary of the Circuit Clerk position. Some members of the public said they were not reconnected when the board came back into open session to vote on the salary.

“There were several members of the public who contacted the state’s attorney’s office and reported that they had been either cut off from the conference call after waiting for the board to return from executive session, or been unable re-enter the meeting after the executive session,” said Piatt County Assistant State’s Attorney Elizabeth Dobson.

* But the state’s attorney overstepped her bounds, according to a local judge…

Judge Karle Koritz last week found that State’s Attorney Dana Rhoades had a conflict of interest when her office filed misdemeanor criminal charges against five county board members alleging that they violated the Open Meetings Act on May 13 when a county board meeting held via Zoom conference was apparently disconnected for a closed session. Some members of the public were not able to reconnect after the board returned to open session. […]

“The authority to appoint a special prosecutor lies solely with the court,” said Kortiz, who chastised Rhoades for not going through that procedure.

“The court is bewildered as to why a state’s attorney’s office that recognizes its own conflict would choose to file charges before seeking the appointment of a special prosecutor,” he wrote in his July 1 ruling.

In response to Carroll’s request for an independent prosecutor, the state’s attorney’s office conceded that they are witnesses and “would not and could not, serve as prosecutors.”

With that admission, Koritz wrote “then it would follow that it should not make a charging decision. The decision whether to charge an individual and what charge to file are the two most fundamental and powerful exercises of prosecutorial discretion. Having recognized that ‘it would not and could not serve as prosecutors,’ the state’s attorney’s office has nevertheless filed no petition to recuse itself.”

Judge Koritz appointed the Illinois State’s Attorney’s Appellate Prosecutor to handle the case.

* I’m not saying, I’m just saying that what the Piatt County board did pales in comparison to what happened in the city…

The Better Government Association filed a lawsuit on Friday [June 12th] against the Chicago City Council over a recent series of conference calls that violate the Open Meetings Act.

The calls were arranged by Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s staff and have been described as informational briefings between the administration and aldermen.

The meetings “violated nearly every meaningful OMA requirement, including the statutory obligation to provide notice of meetings, to allow public comment at meetings, and to make meetings ‘convenient’ and ‘open’ to the public,” according to the lawsuit.

“The Open Meetings Act ensures that the actions of our government are not conducted in improper secrecy,” said Josh Burday, an attorney with Loevy and Loevy, which represents the BGA. “Transparency in government is critical, and the right of the public to attend and speak at meetings ensures that transparency.”

Recordings of some of the meetings have been shared with reporters and circulated on social media. According to news accounts, the discussions focused on the city’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its handling of protests in Chicago following the death of George Floyd during an encounter with Minneapolis police.

* A refresher on the OMA…

The Open Meetings Act says citizens have a right to attend “all meetings at which any business of a public body is discussed or acted upon in any way,” except under limited and specific circumstances. Even if those circumstances exist, a meeting can’t be closed to the public without a majority vote, taken in an open meeting.

Lightfoot has said she won’t do it again.