State's Attorney Investigating Possible Open Meetings Violations by School Board

Kendall County State’s Attorney Eric Weis has launched an investigation into possible violations of the Open Meetings Act by the board.

Weis said Monday morning he was contacted last week by phone by a member of the school board who wanted to report the possible violations stemming from unrecorded closed session meetings from April 14, 16, 19, 20, and 21.

Weis would not say which member contacted him, but revealed the school board followed up with a letter Friday asking for an investigation. Weis said one member of the public had also contacted his office about the violations.

“It’s a little unusual to have the government body actually be the one to contact us in something like this,” Weis said.

School Board President Bill Walsh The closed session meetings were held to interview candidates for open administration positions within the district. Minutes of those meetings were taken by Walsh and will be presented for approval at Monday night's meeting, scheduled for 7 p.m. at . 

Weis said he doesn’t anticipate a lengthy investigation, as the school board reported the incident itself. As for what kind of punishment could be expected, Weis said unintentional violations of OMA don’t carry the same weight as intentionally skirting the law.

“Generally we just try to make sure the same problem doesn’t happen again,” he said. “We just want to make sure corrective actions are taken.”

Weis said his office will issue a written opinion on the investigation at its conclusion.