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March 29, 2024

McHenry Co. Sheriff Candidate Tony Colatorti Remains On Ballot –

By John Kraft & Kirk Allen

On April 14, 2022

McHenry County, IL. (ECWd) –

Today, the McHenry County Electoral Board voted unanimously to deny the objection to Antonio “Tony” Colatorti’s, Candidacy for McHenry County Sheriff, by determining he did meet the minimum statutory qualifications for the office of Sheriff.

Both County Clerk Joe Tirio and Circuit Court Clerk Kathy Keefe recused themselves and State’s Attorney Patrick Kenneally designated Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Lisle Stalter to sit in his place on the Electoral Board, while McHenry County Chief Judge James Cowlin appointed Steve Cuda and Sam Weyers to replace Tirio and Keefe.

We wrote about the objection earlier (here).

You should be able to watch the McHenry County Election Board Hearing video (here).

The change made in the Counties Code for qualification for the office of Sheriff became effective on January 1, 2022, and states:

Sec. 3-6001.5. Sheriff qualifications. A person is not eligible to be elected or appointed to the office of sheriff, unless that person meets all of the following requirements:
        (1) Is a United States citizen.
        (2) Has been a resident of the county for at least
    
one year.
        (3) Is not a convicted felon.
        (4) Has a certificate attesting to his or her
    
successful completion of the Minimum Standards Basic Law Enforcement Officers Training Course as prescribed by the Illinois Law Enforcement Training Standards Board or a substantially similar training program of another state or the federal government. This paragraph does not apply to a sheriff currently serving on the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 101st General Assembly.
(Source: P.A. 101-652, eff. 1-1-22.)

In our opinion, the argument by candidate’s counsel attempted to equate the part-time officer training course to the full-time (Basic Law Enforcement Officers Training Course (“BLEOTC”)) officer training course, for the purposes of qualifying for the office of Sheriff. The BLEOTC specifically requires full-time continuous training – not so for the part-time course.

We are unsure whether this Electoral Board’s decision will or will not be appealed to the circuit court, even though we certainly are looking forward to an appeal if for nothing more than clarifying how the courts would interpret this new provision of qualification for the office of Sheriff.

We will publish the Electoral Board’s Order once we obtain a copy.

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