Carpentersville trustee's residency in question

While a four-count misdemeanor conviction likely will not expel Carpentersville Trustee Paul Humpfer from the village board, the village president says his current living situation might.

Village President Bill Sarto has asked the Kane County state's attorney to look into Humpfer's residency status, claiming the trustee has not resided in the municipality for some time.

When Sarto asked Humpfer about his residency status during a recent village board meeting, Humpfer would not answer.

"If he is living in the village, what is so secretive about this?" Sarto said. "You are supposed to live in the village if you are a trustee. You are required to live within the village limits, according to state statutes."

First Assistant State's Attorney Clint Hull said there is an investigation ongoing, but would not elaborate.

Though he has been staying with his parents in northwest Indiana since Thanksgiving, Humpfer said he intends to return to Carpentersville within the next month.

"I get my mail sent there. I pay the mortgage, the gas bill, the water bill, the cable," Humpfer said. "I like living in Carpentersville. Believe me, I want to move back to Carpentersville."

Humpfer was initially forced to move out of his west side home after his wife, Jacqueline, filed an emergency order of protection in June last year.

Sarto first questioned Humpfer's residency when he learned of the protective order, which was subsequently dropped.

The plan to move back may be enough for Humpfer to meet residency requirements.

"I have been told that under the laws of Illinois, residency is not necessarily where you slept last night," said Larry Frang, executive director of the Illinois Municipal League. "It's the intent that is paramount."

On Wednesday, a Kane County judge convicted Humpfer of four counts of domestic battery stemming from a May 2007 argument in which Humpfer hit his wife in the legs with a baseball bat.

Humpfer faces a maximum of 364 days in county jail.

A municipal attorney on Thursday said since the conviction was a misdemeanor -- not a felony -- Humpfer would not have to step down.

The domestic battery conviction also does not fit the definition of an infamous crime, said Ronald Roeser, attorney for Dundee Township and former counsel for Gilberts and Pingree Grove.

Sentencing is scheduled for April 10.