A judge said he will rule Friday on whether the four-month suspension of Kane County State’s Atty. Meg Gorecki’s law license that begins Sunday disqualifies her from completing her term.
Circuit Judge Michael Colwell declined Wednesday to grant a motion by Gorecki’s attorneys to temporarily prevent the County Board from meeting in special session Monday to review the issue. The board is scheduled to debate whether the ban on Gorecki practicing law from Feb. 1 to June 1 creates a vacancy and whether board Chairman Mike McCoy (R-Aurora) has the authority to recommend someone to fill it.
“I am not inclined today to issue an injunction,” Colwell told attorneys Larry Wechter, of Geneva and Patrick Kinnally, of Aurora, after hearing arguments Wednesday.
Wechter is a private attorney representing Gorecki. Kinnally is the special assistant state’s attorney hired to represent McCoy and the County Board.
Kinnally has advised McCoy and the board that Gorecki’s suspension gives the board authority to declare the office vacant and the board chairman the right to name a replacement through the end of her term, Nov. 30.
But Wechter and co-counsel Cathy Cavins, of Batavia, are relying extensively on an opinion issued Friday by Illinois Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan that said Gorecki was not disqualified from continuing to hold office while her license was temporarily suspended, nor does her short-term suspension create a vacancy in the post.
“Her law license has not been revoked. It has not been taken away from her,” argued Wechter. “She has not been ordered to surrender her license.”
Kinnally argued the County Board’s authority to meet and to determine “whether a vacancy exists” should not be abridged.
“I don’t know what the determination is going to be,” he said. “We’re here because the state’s attorney wants to stop the board from meeting. If there is not a vacancy, life goes on.”
But Wechter said, “A decision by the County Board to declare a vacancy will immensely complicate this situation.”
Before taking the case under advisement, Colwell noted that Chief Judge Philip DiMarzio “wisely” appointed a special state’s attorney Tuesday to assume all the powers of the position while Gorecki’s license is suspended. This step was necessary, he said, to ensure the legal ability of the office to function without interruption.
Like Madigan and DiMarzio, Colwell said the Gorecki case is unprecedented.
Regardless of how Colwell rules and whether the board meets Monday, McCoy said, “The issue of `vacancy’ is not going away.” The County Board is obliged to act, he said.
“I think there is [a vacancy],” said County Board member Paul Greviskes (D-Aurora), an attorney, who observed Wednesday’s hearing.
But board member Jan Carlson (R-Elburn), who also listened to the arguments, said the attorney general’s opinion “ought to be sufficient. There’s no point in dragging this out.”
Carlson said his constituents in western Kane have been telling him: “Enough is enough. We’re tired of this issue.”
“If I had my way, there would be no meeting,” Carlson said.
Assuming it remains unchallenged, McCoy said DiMarzio’s decision Tuesday to name a special state’s attorney satisfies his immediate concern. He had said the ability of the office to operate legally would have been at risk beginning Sunday.
M. Katherine Moran, chief of the office’s civil division, will be sworn in as special state’s attorney Sunday. She is empowered to serve in that post only until June 1, when Gorecki’s suspension ends.
“If I do cancel the meeting, I’m not canceling debate on the issue,” McCoy said.
The state Supreme Court last year ordered Gorecki’s four-month suspension for having undermined confidence in the integrity of government when, before she became state’s attorney, Gorecki falsely suggested to a friend that McCoy could be bribed into providing a county job.
