White County Supervisor of Assessments Removed from the Ballot –

White County, IL. (ECWd) –

The objection to current White County Supervisor of Assessments Terry Abell’s candidate filing was, in the end, sustained by the White County election board on Monday afternoon. After a 90-minute hearing of evidence and much deliberation, the board, consisting of County Clerk Beth Sell, Circuit Clerk Kelly Fulkerson and State’s Attorney Denton Aud, unanimously agreed that the objection was valid. The challenge to the filing was brought by Deborah Bunting and Katherine Sands of Carmi.

At issue was the requirement by the Department of Revenue that candidates for the supervisor of assessments office must file a pre-election certification document with their primary petitions in order to run, which Abell (D) failed to include. Abell produced a pre-certification certificate at the hearing, but it was dated March 15, 2022. The filing period ended on March 14, the day before, and apparently was not in her possession at the time of filing.

What was not at issue and was not contested was her qualifications to hold the office. The negligence in filing the certificate however, put her in violation of the Property Tax Code 35 ILCS 200/3-5. A bulletin posted on the Department of Revenue website reminds candidates that the certificate must be filed.

“Candidates for the positions of township assessor or chief county assessment officer, must file a certificate of qualification at the time they participate as a candidate for election, appointment, or to contract to do the work.”

The written decision of the election board is to be released Thursday afternoon, after which time Abell has five days to contest the decision in circuit court.

Our thanks goes to Kathy Sands at the Villager’s Voice for submitting this article.