DuPage judge refuses to force county to pay two election vendors

Two vendors who provide election services in DuPage County will have to wait to receive payment.

DuPage County Judge Bryan Chapman this week denied the county clerk’s request for a temporary restraining order to force the payment of the two bills, totaling more than $230,000.

In his ruling Wednesday, Chapman said granting the TRO would require him to rule on the underlying case that DuPage County Clerk Jean Kaczmarek brought against the county. In that case, Kaczmarek argues the county cannot prevent her from procuring services or equipment needed to run her office.

“TROs are not designed to address the merits in the underlying case,” Chapman said.

Chapman’s ruling comes two months after a decision directing the county clerk’s office to comply with the county’s accounting procedures on budget line-item transfers for bill payments.

The two bills in question prompted the DuPage County state’s attorney’s office to request a special prosecutor to conduct an investigation to determine if the clerk’s office violated the state’s competitive bidding laws and if any criminal charges, including official misconduct, are warranted. The Illinois attorney general’s office was appointed to investigate, but has not yet released a ruling.

The county has held off on paying the bills, saying questions remain if the two contracts — one to Governmental Business Systems and the other to Prager Moving & Storage — were properly bid by the clerk’s office.

Both vendors have signed affidavits stating they would not provide services for the 2026 election unless they were paid for bills related to the 2025 elections. The vendors wanted an assurance from the county that it would pay for any future services they provide.

“She does not want to run these elections without these two vendors,” Ken Florey, a private attorney appointed to represent Kaczmarek, told Chapman.

In an affidavit, an official with Naperville-based Prager Moving & Storage said the company has provided election services to the county for the last 40 years. An official with GBS said the Lisle-based company serves 41 Illinois counties and election commissions, including DuPage County.

Kaczmarek has maintained that the contracts with both companies were proper and a continuation of a long-standing relationship with DuPage County.

In his arguments, Florey noted that since taking office in 2018, Kaczmarek has worked to improve election accessibility and efficiency.

“Let’s not mess around with the 2026 elections,” he said.

In their response to Kaczmarek’s request for the TRO, prosecutors from the state’s attorney’s office argued that she has had time to work with the county to properly procure services. In an affidavit, the county’s chief procurement officer also maintained there is still time to secure services for the upcoming election.

“Elections do not occur at unpredictable times; the clerk has been aware of the dates for the 2026 elections for quite some time and has chosen not to prepare for them through a bidding process where she could hire qualified vendors,” the DuPage County state’s attorney’s office wrote in its response to Kaczmarek’s request for a TRO. “The clerk created this ‘emergency’ which she now requests the court’s remedy.”

On Thursday, Chief Deputy Clerk Adam Johnson reiterated concerns that the clerk is not being allowed the internal control over her office’s operations outlined in state law. He added that the clerk’s office is not seeking other vendors to replace Prager or GBS.

“We have faith that the court will apply the law as it is written, which gives the clerk internal control over her operations,” Johnson said. “We are not currently planning elections around the chance that the clerk will be illegally prevented from exercising her authority.”

The next court date in the lawsuit is in November.