Kendall Township Board trustee does not live in township, resigns

Kendall County Board candidate Zach Turnbow has resigned from the Kendall Township Board of Trustees after it was revealed that he currently lives in Bristol Township, not Kendall Township.

He resigned Oct. 17, according to township officials. In filing for a District 1 seat on the Kendall County Board in November 2023 as a Democrat, Turnbow listed his current address as being in the 100 block of Bertram Drive in Yorkville, which is in Bristol Township.

According to state law, township officials must reside in the township they represent. Turnbow could not be reached for comment.

Property tax records show that Turnbow bought the property on Bertram Drive in November 2022. He applied for and received a owner occupied tax exemption in September 2023, records show.

Turnbow was elected to the Kendall Township Board of Trustees in April 2021. Township officials said Turnbow has reimbursed the township for the meetings he attended while not residing in the township, which amounts to about $980.

They were not aware he had moved out of the township.

Kendall Township Board trustees get paid $90 a meeting and meet once a month.

In a letter recently sent to media outlets, including Shaw Local News Network, Kendall County Sheriff Dwight Baird said that Turnbow had been getting paid to serve as a Kendall Township Trustee for more than a year while not living in Kendall Township.

Baird said he wrote the letter as a private citizen and Kendall Township resident.

“Zach Turnbow owes an explanation to the taxpayers of Kendall County as to why he has been accepting taxpayer money but not living in the township and being transparent,” according to the letter.

The board has two months to appoint someone to fill the vacancy. That person will fill the vacancy until the April 2025 election.