High court won't hear appeal on referendum

An Illinois Supreme Court ruling has all but dashed eleventh-hour hopes of a Feb. 5 referendum question to dissolve Campton Hills.

The court Wednesday refused to hear an appeal from dissolution supporters who want the question on the upcoming ballot.

The appeal sought to overturn a Kane County judge's Dec. 3 ruling that the ballot already was too crowded with three village advisory referendum questions -- the most allowed by law -- when dissolution proponents filed paperwork for a fourth.

Chris Baldwin, chairman of the group pushing to disband the village, said there's still a chance the case could be heard by a local appellate court but admitted it's unlikely to happen before the election in 19 days. Early voting already has begun.

"I'm disappointed," Baldwin said Thursday. "No one is making the time or effort on a constitutional issue."

The setback came about two weeks after the referendum petition survived numerous legal challenges filed by three residents who oppose dissolving the town, which incorporated in April.

Village President Patsy Smith was pleased with the ruling but not surprised.

"I never thought it would be" on the Feb. 5 ballot, she said. "The statute is pretty clear; you can only have three referendums at once."

A state statute regarding time-sensitive matters of public interest allowed Baldwin to appeal simultaneously to the supreme and appellate courts, officials said.

Baldwin said he expects the referendum question to be "first in line" for a spot in the November election.