Peoria taxpayers are paying outside attorneys to sue the county and also to defend the county in a 13-month-old lawsuit by County Auditor Jessica Thomas, whose office was changed by the County Board in 2021 and eliminated by voters in the Nov. 8 election.
And now, taxpayers will continue to pay her salary, estimated to be “$7,000 or $8,000 a month,” according to her lawyer, Justin Penn, from Hinshaw & Culbertson, headquartered in Chicago.
Judge James Mack on Dec. 15 denied the county’s motion to place Thomas’ salary into an escrow account, pending the county’s appeal of Mack’s Nov. 30 preliminary injunction requiring the county government to continue paying her until a decision can be made on whether the vote to abolish the office is immediate, at the end of the four-year term she won in 2020, “or somewhere in the middle,” he said.
Penn argued that Thomas should continue to be paid under the preliminary injunction, which maintains the status quo and will “let the Auditor do the Auditor’s job.” However, the Auditor has not delivered her monthly reports to the Peoria County Board since she filed suit on Nov. 15 of last year.
“If the appellate court finds [the county] was wrongfully enjoined [from eliminating the office],” said one of the county’s lawyers, Lisa Meador, “the county will seek reimbursement.”
Mack agreed, saying if the appellate court rules to overturn his injunction, Peoria County can sue Thomas for reimbursement. An appellate court decision could take two to four months, Mack said.
In a separate ruling also related to funds, Mack declined to rule on Penn’s request that the county pay him $42,087.50 in fees plus $766.64 in expenses for work he’s done for Thomas thus far.
Penn said he’d agreed to work at a
$375 hourly rate. The county is expected to argue that that amount is excessive.
The county’s outside counsel, the Sotos Law Firm in Chicago, is reportedly charging “between $225 and $250” per hour, according to court filings.
The issue “is pretty substantive,” Mack said, and the county will respond in writing. However, Mack’s been reassigned to Marshall, Putnam and Stark County, so he’ll let the latest issue be heard by Judge Bruce Fehrenbacher, who’ll become the third judge to preside over the case.
At press time, no court date was scheduled on Penn’s request for payment or the original suit seeking the restoration of the Auditor’s office and funding. However, Fehrenbacher is scheduled to hear a motion to dismiss Thomas’ other case (with Karrie Alms against the Election Commission) at 2 p.m. Jan. 9.