Karl Ferrell will stay on Joliet Township board, for now

A Joliet Township trustee with felony convictions gets to stay on the township board but may not have much time to win the clemency he might need from Gov. JB Pritzker to remain there.

In a ruling Friday, Judge John Anderson denied prosecutors’ motion for a temporary restraining order to remove Karl Ferrell from the board as he said he couldn’t reasonably envision removing someone from public office on just a temporary basis.

“If the government is to receive that level of relief, it would have to come (if it all) in the context of a permanent injunction or final judgment,” Anderson said.

Yet Anderson also denied Ferrell’s request to suspend prosecutors’ litigation to remove him from office until Pritzker approves of his executive clemency application.

Anderson said he has no way of knowing whether Pritzker will grant the application or how much time that will take.

“It is not unheard of for a clemency application to basically go into a drawer and stay there for months or even years without action,” Anderson said.

Ferrell’s attorney, John Partelow, had told Anderson that a hearing on that application is set for July.

The application was filed with the Illinois Prisoner Review Board on March 11, about three months after the township was informed of Ferrell’s ineligibility for office.

Anderson said townships have limited but important powers.

“The court is just not in a position to place this case on hold – and the important functions and operations of Joliet Township – while the clemency process plays itself out,” Anderson said.

Anderson said it was “questionable” whether an executive pardon could retroactively validate Ferrell’s eligibility status going back to the time he joined the board.

Anderson said that an “expedited resolution” is critical for prosecutors, Ferrell and Joliet Township residents.

Both parties are scheduled to complete discovery, depositions, motions and other court filings by June 3. A hearing on all motions is set for June 10.

Anderson said he was not unsympathetic to Ferrell’s situation. He said no one wants to have their entire lives judged by their worst moments, but sometimes “our worst moments create our best opportunities.”

“Mr. Ferrell’s efforts to improve himself and to enhance his contributions to society, are laudable. Redemption is a powerful thing, and we could all use another chance every once in a while,” Anderson said.

In an affidavit, Ferrell said he has lived a law-abiding life since his convictions, works as a union painter and is a member of various organizations, such as Black Lives Matter Will County.

Ferrell’s affidavit said Joliet Township Supervisor Angel Contreras suspended his monthly $1,000 compensation “without prior notice to me and without advising me of the legal authority ... relied on to do so.”

Contreras has said the township officials are “waiting to see where everything is at” with Ferrell’s situation and they can “always pay him everything he’s due.”

Ferrell said he’s chosen not to contest the denial of his pay.