Judge: Take Birkett's advice on replacement

DuPage County Board members must rely on departing State's Attorney Joseph Birkett's legal advice as they prepare to vote on the nominee to replace him.

Chief Judge Stephen Culliton on Wednesday denied former board Chairman Robert Schillerstrom's request to have a special state's attorney appointed to provide legal advice to the county board until Birkett's successor is chosen.

Culliton ruled that Birkett, scheduled to be sworn in Monday as an appellate judge, doesn't have a personal interest that would disqualify him from answering county board members' legal questions about the process of replacing him.

Birkett said after the hearing that he hasn't been pushing for county board Chairman Dan Cronin to nominate a particular candidate to lead the state's attorney's office for the two years remaining on his term.

“What I have advocated for is the position of state's attorney should be filled by a competent attorney,” Birkett said. “That's all I have ever said.”

Schillerstrom argued in court that county board members need “unbiased“ legal advice before voting on Cronin's nominee, especially since board members Pat O'Shea and John Curran are among the seven candidates hoping to replace Birkett.

Schillerstrom questioned whether Birkett should be advising the board because three members of his staff have applied to replace him.

The prosecutors in Birkett's office who have applied are Joseph Ruggiero, who heads the office's special prosecutions division; First Assistant State's Attorney Nancy Wolfe and Bob Berlin, who is chief of the criminal bureau.

Still, Culliton concluded that Birkett is capable of providing independent and unbiased legal opinions about the selection process.

“It was without any merit whatsoever,” Birkett said of Schillerstrom's request for outside legal counsel.

The two other candidates seeking to replace Birkett are DuPage Circuit Judge Daniel Guerin and state Rep. Dennis Reboletti.

In the meantime, Culliton on Monday is expected to name an interim state's attorney once Birkett is sworn in as an appellate judge.

Unless a special meeting is called for Monday, the soonest county board members can vote on Cronin's choice for a permanent successor is during Tuesday's regularly scheduled meeting.

Cronin said this week that one of his goals is to have his nominee be the same person who is named interim state's attorney.

“If we have good consensus and support for a candidate, my objective is that we can all be on the same page the county board members, the chief judge and myself,” he said. “That's what I'm seeking to accomplish.”