State: Deer Park violated Open Meetings Act

The Illinois Attorney General’s office has determined that Deer Park officials violated the Open Meetings Act by convening in closed session last fall to discuss terminating their contract for police services from Kildeer and seeking out a new provider.

According to the nonbinding opinion written by Assistant Attorney General Amanda Lundeen, these topics did not meet the definition of “pending litigation” as a legal reason to enter closed session.

But Deer Park Village Attorney James Bateman said he respectfully disagreed with the opinion, restating the village’s position that it was impossible to separate the search for a new police provider from the problems Deer Park trustees then saw with Kildeer’s compliance with the terms of its contract.

In fact, Deer Park filed a fraud and breach-of-contract lawsuit against Kildeer last Monday. The Attorney General’s opinion was issued two days later.

As a remedy for the violation, Lundeen asked that the Deer Park board release the portion of its closed session minutes from Sept. 19 and 27 that concern the search for a new police services provider.

But because the opinion is a nonbinding one, this suggested remedy is a request, not a demand.

Bateman said the ultimate decision will be with the village board whether to release the closed session minutes.

“We will give due and respectful consideration to their request,” Bateman said.

The complaint that triggered the Attorney General’s investigation was filed by former Deer Park trustee Maureen Pratscher. She said she felt from her own term on the board that the stated reasons for going into closed session were not valid ones.

Pratscher said she was disappointed that the opinion sought only the release of the closed session minutes as she feels a release of the original recordings would provide better insight into the conversation.

She also felt that the long delay before an opinion was rendered weakened the ability of complaints such as hers to serve as deterrents to boards violating the Open Meetings Act. Deer Park has long since switched its police service over to the Lake County Sheriff’s office.

But Pratscher encouraged fellow citizens to pursue such complaints when they believe a violation has occurred.

“You have no way of knowing what they’re discussing is legal or not if you don’t go through this process,” Pratscher said.

There were several other allegations in her complaint of which the village was found innocent, including that the police service issue had been considered and decided outside of a public meeting altogether.