Prosecutors want ex-Joliet Township official to pay $326 for cost of litigation

Prosecutors want a former Joliet Township trustee deemed ineligible for elected office to pay the estimated $326 that they incurred for taking him to court, asking a judge whether he should pay a fine for remaining in office and drawing a taxpayer-funded salary even though he’s not qualified to do so.

On Tuesday, Will County Assistant State’s Attorney Scott Pyles filed a petition that requests that former Trustee Karl Ferrell pay $326 in court transcript and mailing costs incurred by the state’s attorney’s office in its litigation to remove Ferrell from elected office.

Pyles filed a civil complaint March 9 to remove Ferrell from the township board because his past felony convictions disqualify him from township office. On June 24, Judge John Anderson ruled that Ferrell was not legally qualified to hold office because of his felony record.

Ferrell is appealing the decision.

Pyles’ petition also asks that Ferrell pay a fine for filing a false statement of candidacy to run as a trustee on the board and continuing to draw a taxpayer-funded salary “despite not being qualified to hold office.”

The petition did not state the amount for the fine. Pyles said the quo warranto statute in Illinois allows for a fine to be imposed, and he’s leaving it to the court’s discretion on whether a fine is needed.

Pyles’ petition is set for a hearing Aug. 11.

Township trustees receive $1,000 a month. Ferrell as been paid $13,000 as of June, according to payroll records provided by Joliet Township in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.

Bryan Wellner, the township’s attorney, said Ferrell was last paid July 15, and that will be his last payment unless an appellate court rules otherwise.

Ferrell was elected April 6, 2021, and attended his first meeting May 25, 2021.

In March, Joliet Township Supervisor Angel Contreras said Ferrell was not given his regular trustee pay because the township is “waiting to see where everything is at,” referring to the prosecutors’ civil action to boot Ferrell from office.

In a March 29 affidavit, Ferrell said Contreras suspended his pay without prior notice and without telling him of the legal grounds for doing so but hoped that if the prosecutors’ litigation “be resolved in my favor, the township will voluntarily pay back wages, which have been withheld.”

Yet township payroll records showed Ferrell was paid $2,000 in April, which made up for the withheld March payment, and he continued to receive his regular pay.

The state’s attorney’s office first notified the township of Ferrell’s ineligibility for office in December. At that time, Ferrell claimed prosecutors were retaliating against him over his protests regarding the Eric Lurry case and his protest pushing for hate crime charges against Cord Krol, 54. The state’s attorney’s office denied retaliating against him.

Prosecutors gave Ferrell until March 8 to step down, otherwise they would take him to court, but Ferrell refused to do so.

It wasn’t until March 11 that Ferrell filed a petition with the Illinois Prisoners Review Board asking Gov. JB Pritzker to grant him a restoration of rights that he believes will make him qualified for office. The petition remains pending.

Ferrell’s office became vacant at noon Monday. Wellner said the board has 60 days from that day to choose a new trustee unless the appellate court allows Ferrell to remain on the board.