The Marion County Board will have to reorganize again Monday night after apparently violating the Illinois Open Meetings Act by voting by secret ballot.
State’s Attorney Tim Hudspeth investigated the secret ballot after questions were raised about its legality. He found a similar case in Ogle County where the appellate court said votes to reorganize the county board must be done in public.
“It’s fairly clear that when there’s a vote by secret ballot, even though it might violate the Open Meetings Act, it is still a valid action,” Hudspeth said. “In the prior case the appellate court and trial court basically told the county board that at an open meeting, each board member needs to say, ‘this is who I voted for.’ That way the public knows, good bad or otherwise, who their elected representative supported for the chair position and vice chair position.”
Hudspeth says no new candidates will be allowed and board members are expected to say who they voted for on the secret ballot taken earlier this month.
The board is also expected to get an update on its Fiscal ’25 budget following a day of meetings with county office holders to try and remove $266,000 from the budget to avoid a deficit. The tentative budget is currently on public display at the county clerk’s office until a final vote is taken at a special board meeting that has been set for December 30th.
The community relations committee is expected to provide an update on a meeting with Centralia City Manager Kory Smith on possible continued use of the Centralia Animal Pound by the county after they earlier voted not to renew the agreement due to increased cost and the city not planning to take county dogs if the pound is full.
The meeting begins at 6:30 Monday night at the Marion County Courthouse.
