The Madison County Board voted to review and release some closed session minutes prior to April 30, including meetings to address litigation filed by former auditor Rick Faccin.
The board voted on the resolution to release specified closed session minutes on June 16. The resolution was presented by the Government Relations Committee.
During the Government Relations Committee meeting held prior to the County Board meeting, Assistant State’s Attorney Andy Carruthers said the county has an obligation to review the closed sessions minutes pursuant to the Open Meetings Act.
“We have an obligation to review our closed session minutes every six months to determine whether closed session minutes must remain confidential or if circumstances have changed that warrant their release. This is that semi-annual effort,” he said.
Carruthers noted that only the minutes approved would be released and none of the verbatim recordings are authorized for release. He said the recordings contain legal advice by his predecessor and would require a separate vote to unseal them.
Carruthers said the specified minutes no longer need to remain confidential. The closed session minutes from June 19, 2019, July 17, 2019, and Aug. 21, 2019, will be released, which address a lawsuit Faccin filed against the County Board, Board Chairman Kurt Prenzler, Treasurer Chris Slusser, and former County Administrator Doug Hulme.
Faccin sought an injunction of a March 20, 2019, resolution ordering the auditor to allow the county board and a number of officials access to the USL financial system used to track county financial information.
The county board passed the resolution by a party line vote of 13-12 with Republicans carrying the majority.
The county board had declared that the system serves as the official book of accounts, and that it is essential for honest government that details be accessible by administrators.
Faccin’s lawsuit claimed information contained in the records of the auditor included medical details protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
In the defendants’ countersuit, they claimed they were seeking county financial information from the USL system on a “read only” basis, which is allowed in all other Illinois counties.
The parties reached a tentative settlement in July 2019.
“The tentative compromise lets us see the financial data that we need to manage the county,” Prenzler stated in a press release announcing the settlement.
The tentative settlement allows Prenzler the ability to view the county’s revenue and expenditures for the past 10 years.
During the Government Relations Committee meeting, Carruthers suggested they again consider which closed session minutes should be reviewed and released, suspecting they may be ready to release the minutes discussing two lawsuits against the county that have recently reached settlement agreements. In one suit, the Veterans’ Assistance Commission settled a $1 million funding dispute. In the other, former county employee Kristen Poshard settled a suit alleging she was wrongfully terminated for resisting sexual harassment by former county board member Phil Chapman.