Former DuPage prosecutor tapped for ethics post

A former DuPage prosecutor has been chosen to help enforce the county ethics rules she played a role in creating.

Nancy Wolfe, who retired in January from the state's attorney's office, is expected to be appointed DuPage's next investigator general during Tuesday morning's county board meeting. She will replace Paul Moreschi, who decided this month not to seek reappointment.

"I can think of no better person than Nancy Wolfe to take on the responsibilities of investigator general," said county board Chairman Dan Cronin, who nominated Wolfe for the position. "She had a distinguished career. She finished as a first assistant state's attorney. She's uniquely qualified in this very important and sensitive capacity."

In her appointed role, Wolfe will receive ethics complaints and do initial reviews of those complaints.

She also will act as a prosecutor of a complaint if a hearing is conducted. Those hearings are done before the five-member, bipartisan ethics commission, which meets on an as-needed basis to review complaints.

Wolfe, who lives in Wayne, will serve as inspector general for a term that ends Feb. 1, 2019. She will be paid $185 an hour and be reimbursed for "reasonable expenses" incurred during the performance of her duties.

On Monday, Wolfe declined to comment through a state's attorney's office spokesman.

Wolfe started her career in the state's attorney's office in 1980 as an assistant state's attorney in the criminal division, according to her resume.

After working at a general practice law firm from 1989 to 1993, Wolfe returned to the state's attorney's office to become an assistant state's attorney in the civil division. She was named chief of the civil bureau in 1996.

In July 2003, Wolfe was named first assistant state's attorney - a position she held until she retired.

Cronin said Wolfe played "a key role" in the creation of the county's current ethics ordinance several years ago. "She helped me fashion a policy that was more comprehensive," he said.

In 2012, DuPage made it possible for other government agencies in the county to adopt the rules dealing with ethical conduct, political activities and the solicitation and acceptance of gifts by state officials and employees.

"My objective was to bring it all together," Cronin said, "to have a meaningful process where all the boards and commissions would use our investigator general and our (ethics) board would review ethics complaints."

The list of agencies that have since entered into an intergovernmental agreement with DuPage in order to use the county's ethics commission and investigator general includes the DuPage Airport Authority, the DuPage Housing Authority and the DuPage Water Commission.