Kane circuit court clerk's attorney says she sought settlement with county

Kane County Board member Gerry Jones may have overlooked his own disregard last week when he publicly expressed his “absolute outrage at the callous disregard” shown by Circuit Court Clerk Deb Seyller appealing the recent injunction granted in her lawsuit against the county.

Seyller's attorney, Dean Frieders, said Friday Seyller has now twice extended formal offers to settle the case outside the courtroom only to be ignored by the county. Frieders said Seyller made an offer to sit down even before the first court appearance. She recently made a similar offer. Both offers were recognized by the county, but never definitively responded to, Frieders said.

“The circuit clerk continues to hold open the possibility of sitting down and seeing if it is possible to amicably resolve this,” Frieders said. “They simply haven't responded at all. We continue to hold open the possibility of working with them. We are actively trying to come up with ways to get them to come to some collaborative discussion. Hopefully, at some point, the county will accept the clerk's offer.”

But county board Attorney Ken Shepro said talk of legitimate settlement offers was “news to him.”

“Before the case went to a hearing, I believe it was suggested to us that Seyller would drop the lawsuit if we would give her the money she wants. That was not much of a settlement offer. Later, a third party suggested to both sides that maybe they would be interested in mediation,” Shepro said. “We have not heard from their attorneys at all on that subject, and they have not heard from us. That may come up at the hearing (Monday). If it does, I think our attorneys will say they would be pleased to do so. The board is more than willing to discuss an option.”

Seyller's case is back in Judge Stephen Sullivan's courtroom Monday. Attorneys on both sides expect the case to be continued while they await an answer to Seyller's appeal of Sullivan's order last month. That order said Seyller can use money from special funds she controls to cover a $520,000 shortfall in her budget. The money is needed to pay employees.

Chief Judge F. Keith Brown must also agree to the solution. Brown said last Friday he has not yet agreed to it, but he will do everything in his power to ensure the courts stay open. If Brown does not agree, it's unclear how Seyller will fund her final two pay periods of the fiscal year.

Frieders said Seyller decided to appeal Sullivan's order not only because she disagrees with it, but also because she's unclear how to follow it. Frieders said Sullivan's ruling didn't specifically say which of the special funds could or should be used to address the shortfall or what process is needed to determine which special fund should be used.

“The appeal is to ensure that the order we're acting under in the interim is something that's clear and enforceable,” Frieders said.

The main issue that is unclear from the county's standpoint is why Seyller would bother appealing the order at all. The county has filed a motion to force Seyller to pay for the shortfall out of her personal savings. Shepro told board members Sullivan's order appeared to make that motion a moot point because using the special funds would've erased the shortfall. Shepro pointed out in an interview later that no one has any idea how to make up the shortfall if the special funds or Seyller's own purse aren't utilized. The only other option was to use the county's contingency fund for the fiscal year. All that money has been spent since Sullivan's ruling.

Frieders said the idea of making Seyller pay for the shortfall out of her own pocket is nonsense.

“There really isn't a legal foundation for that concept,” Frieders said. “I really think it is inappropriate and against everyone's best interest to suggest such an idea when a public official is coming forward and trying to make sure public dollars are spent wisely and legally. It's amazingly inappropriate.”

Frieders also said he finds Jones' comment troubling because it suggests county board members aren't even aware Seyller has tried multiple times to settle the issue out of court.