McHenry County government gets ‘Sunny Award’

Submitted by McHenry County

For the second straight year, McHenry County Government was the recipient of a “Sunny Award,” from the Sunshine Review Organization with an “A” transparency grade, www.sunshinereview.org. The Sunny Award is presented by the editors of the Sunshine Review to honor the most transparent government websites in America. The Sunshine Review organization evaluates and rates state and local government transparency on a public body’s website through a 10-point checklist. The checklist in which McHenry County met all of the criteria include: budgets, open meeting laws, elected officials, administrative officials, building permits and zoning, audits, contracts, lobbying, public records, and taxes.

“McHenry County is proud to receive this recognition for a second straight year for our website. McHenry County continues to strive to be a leader in transparency in its operations in making information available to the public,” said McHenry County Management Services Committee Chairman Ersel Schuster.

Over the past two years, McHenry County has taken steps to make its information more accessible electronically. The county has substantially increased its usage of social media and electronic media distribution; county departments have greatly increased their web utilization in posting information; created a Freedom of Information Request Portal and an “Information Access Portal” that places frequently requested information in one easy-to-find location; created a searchable, electronic version of County Code that is now available on the County Clerk’s website; and audio of county board meetings will be available on the Internet by the end of June.

For more information on McHenry County transparency efforts, contact Adam Lehmann at (815) 334-0409 or aflehmann@co.mchenry.il.us.