Lake County Sheriff Oscar Martinez will have to gradually repay $157,785 to the county through a deduction from his semimonthly paycheck for the overpayment of benefits he had been receiving since he took office in 2017.
The Lake County Council sent a letter June 10 to Lake County Auditor Peggy Katona, directing her to recover the money.
Katona said the first deduction was made from Sheriff Martinez’s July 28 paycheck. She said the first deduction was for $1,104.43 from Martinez’s $4,417.75 in semimonthly take-home pay. Public records show that Martinez was paid $208,515.67 in 2024.
The State Board of Accounts identified the overpayments in its audit of Lake County government finances for 2022. That audit was issued in October 2024.
In 2022, Sheriff Martinez received $22,958.74 in excess pay. The State Board of Accounts broke down the overpayments for that year as follows: $920 in longevity pay, $1,300 in clothing allowance, $19,758.74 in lateral pay and $1,900 in proficiency pay.
All of the extra pay that Martinez received was from the collective bargaining agreement that covers the sheriff’s police officers. The State Board of Accounts contended under state code that Martinez is an officeholder who is not entitled to benefits for police officers negotiated under the collective bargaining agreement.
Lake County Council President Christine Cid, D-5th, said that council members agreed that Martinez was entitled to the longevity pay and clothing allowance, but not the lateral and proficiency pay. For the year 2022 cited by the audit, that meant he wasn’t entitled to $20,758.
Cid said that Katona requested a letter from the council, directing her to recover the money. Council didn’t take a formal vote on the matter, but Cid said they all agreed that the lateral and proficiency pay that Martinez had collected since he took office on Sept. 16, 2017, should be recovered.
“We want to collect back to 2017 because he was never entitled to the benefits and it’s due to the taxpayers,” Cid said.
The letter to Katona states that as the chief financial officer of the county, it would seem that the decision on garnishment of Martinez’s wages could be made by her.
Nevertheless, the council directed Katona to recover the money. The State Board of Accounts made it clear at the exit interview in October 2024 reviewing the audit with county officials that not only did the payments to the sheriff have to be stopped, “but that prior payments made inappropriately need to be recovered,” the council’s letter to Katona states.
When the State Board of Accounts identified the issue, John M. Kopack, a private attorney, wrote a letter on Martinez’s behalf, explaining how the payments had occurred, according to previous reporting by the Post-Tribune.
It had been a past practice that when a Lake County police officer had achieved the office of sheriff, they would continue to receive a clothing allowance, lateral pay and proficiency pay, Kopack’s letter said.
A Lake County Sheriff’s Department bookkeeper confirmed that the previous Lake County Sheriff, John Buncich, continued to receive his clothing allowance, proficiency pay and lateral pay dating back to 2002. Buncich was convicted in 2017 in U.S. District Court in Hammond of bribery and wire fraud for soliciting bribes from county tow operators. He was sentenced in January 2018 to 188 months, which was later reduced to 151 months. He was released to a Chicago halfway house in June.
During his time as sheriff, Martinez has continued to hold the rank of lieutenant and successfully completed 24-hours of in-service training to maintain his certification under state law, Kopack said.
“Hence, it’s well within the discretion of the Lake County Council to compensate a county police officer, who gets elected to the Office of Sheriff with the same clothing allowance, proficiency pay and lateral pay based on the officer’s permanent merit rank with the county police department,” Kopack’s letter said.
Lake County Sheriff’s spokeswoman Pamela Jones, in an email, referred to Kopack’s letter as the sheriff’s position on the matter and had no further comment.
Staff writer Alexandra Kukulka contributed.
Jim Woods is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
