Shelby County – Do Laws Matter?

Shelby Co. – (ECWd) –

State law outlines certain obligations for elected officials.  The State’s Attorney, Ruth Woolery took office in May of 2024.  According to state statute 55 ILCS 5/3-9001, “Before entering upon the respective duties of their office, the state’s attorney shall each be commissioned by the governor, and shall take the following oath or affirmation:”.

While the law points to “before” entering duties of their office, we have seen delays in the Governor’s office that cause the commission paperwork to be delayed.

September 4, 2024, we submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to the Governor’s office for the following.

1. Copy of all records related to the Commission by the Governor to the Shelby County State’s Attorney Ruth Woolery.  For clarification, I am seeking the records related to the mandator requirement in the below statute related to a State’s Attorney being commissioned by the Governor.

(55 ILCS 5/3-9001) (from Ch. 34, par. 3-9001)    Sec. 3-9001. Oath; bond. Before entering upon the respective duties of their office, the state’s attorneys shall each be commissioned by the governor, and shall take the following oath or affirmation:

September 9, 2024, the Governor’s office responded to our request:

“Please be advised that after conducting a search, the Governor’s Office did not find any records responsive to your request.”

September 9, 2024, we submitted a FOIA request to the Shelby County State’s Attorney Ruth Woolery for a copy of her commission.

1. Copy of the Commission from the Governor issued to the State’s Attorney.
2. Copy of any documentation from the State’s Attorney seeking her Commission from the Governor

September 10, 2024, Woolery responded to the request:

“No responsive documents exist”

So as of that date, Woolery had not been commissioned by the Governor as required and had not filed any requests for the required commission.

A couple of other obligations relate to the Open Meetings Act and the Freedom of Information Act.

Open Meetings Act – 5 ICLS 120/1.05 – Training “(b)…….” For these members, the training must be completed not later than the 90th day after the date the member:  (1) takes the oath of office, if the member is required to take an oath of office to assume the person’s duties as a member of the public body or..”

Freedom of Information Act – 5 ILCS 140/3.5  Freedom of Information officers “(b)……whenever a new Freedom of Information officer is designated by a public body, that person shall successfully complete the electronic training curriculum within 30 days after assuming the position. Successful completion of the required training curriculum within the periods provided shall be a prerequisite to continue serving as a Freedom of Information officer”

A request for the training certificates was made on September 4, 2024.  Woolery responded on the same day, September 4, 2024:

1. No responsive documents exist.
2. No responsive documents exist.

We commonly see compliance with OMA and FOIA training after a request for the certificates.  The response commonly includes certificates that are dated after the request, which indicates the request triggered compliance with the law.  Not the case with Woolery.

After having received several concerning FOIA responses from Woolery, including failing to redact credit card numbers, judge’s signatures, and former State’s Attorney Nichole Kroncke’s birth date, I submitted a follow-up FOIA to Woolery.

September 26, 2024:

1. Copy of any record of an appointment of a Freedom of Information officer for the office of State’s Attorney.
2. Copy of the Freedom of Information Act training certificate for the FOIA officer for the office of State’s Attorney.  

Woolery responded just over 2 hours after the request.

1. No responsive documents exist.
2. See attached

So, no Commission from the Governor, no compliance with OMA training, and FOIA training taken 19 days after our request, which is well beyond the statutory timeline for compliance, assuming she is the designated FOIA officer.  We can only assume she is the FOIA officer since she is the one answering those requests, but even those responses do not indicate who the FOIA officer is.

A request to the Attorney General Public Access Counselor for the former State’s Attorney Nichole Kroncke’s OMA and FOIA training certificates resulted in no records.  That same request included the records for former SA Rob Hanlon and turns out Hanlon is the only Shelby County State’s Attorney out of the last three that had complied with both OMA and FOIA training, and well within the statutory timelines.

When the top law enforcement officer in the county has not complied with the most basic of our laws, is it fair to ask, do laws matter?