Will County Board: Outside Counsel May Be Called To Decide If Resolution Is Valid

Will County Building/md

A committee on the Will County Board will decide today to whether bring in an outside counsel to determine if a resolution is valid or not.

Will County Executive Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant had no intention of signing the resolution to expand the 143rd Street project to three lanes, as engineers advised her that five lanes would be best for safety reasons. The resolution was approved 12-9 on Thursday, February 15th. The project is located east of I-355 in Homer Glen near Oak Oak Country Club.

But a procedure in place for years had the clerk sign the resolution before Bertino’s signature. The mistake was caught within hours and Bertino-Tarrant tried to rectify the situation and then vetoed the resolution and alerted County Board chair by the next day. Now, Will County Chairperson Judy Ogalla is calling for an independent attorney to clarify the matter. Ogalla tells WJOL that residents in Homer Glen told her they want to keep 143rd street as a rural road.

The resolution was signed and attested to before the County Executive signed or vetoed it.
The State’s Attorney has ruled that the attestation should have occurred after the signature or veto.
The signed resolution, according to the State’s Attorney, is invalid.
The County Executive vetoed the resolution, which was properly attested to.

If the resolution is not valid and the veto stands, the Will County Board can call a vote to override the veto.