Russell cuts personal check to repay county credit card purchases

A personal check totaling nearly $6,000 may still not be enough for Kane County Coroner Rob Russell to purchase the goodwill of the Kane County Board.

Russell notified board members Thursday he delivered a check in the amount of $5,771.73 to the treasurer's office. The check, issued from a household account Russell shares with his wife, came in an effort to conclude debate about whether he improperly used a county-issued credit card.

Russell said in an interview the check should not be viewed as an admission of wrongdoing.

"I'm not a wealthy man, but I do have a lot of skin in this game," Russell said. "It's important to me that what I do is done right. If that means I have to put some more skin in the game, then I guess that's what it means. I'm really intent on taking away anything that will hurt us from moving forward."

The controversy began when Auditor Terry Hunt suspended payment of coroner bills related to the purchase of promotional items, such as reflectors and hot and cold packs, with Russell's name and name of his office emblazoned upon them. Russell defended the purchase as necessary to help improve public knowledge and opinion of his office.

When county board members delayed consideration of paying those bills, and the vendors demanded payment, Russell used a county credit card to make good on the debt. He cited his authority as an elected official to run his own office, and a letter from the Kane County state's attorney's office saying the bills should be paid, as his rationale for using the card.

"I was just trying to get some things out there for the image of the office, which was in bad shape," Russell said about the purchases. "I want people to be able to approach the office and feel comfortable doing so. Some people don't agree with that. If it's an area of contention, it's probably best just to remove the area of contention and move forward. I care more about death prevention than I do about seeing my name on stuff."

Russell still believes the promotional items are a valuable means of public outreach for his office. To that end, he plans to explore the creation of a nonprofit foundation to finance any promotional items moving forward.

Russell's check didn't appear to reap any immediate dividends. Board members gave no public response to the repayment.

After the meeting, judicial and public safety committee Chairman Cristina Castro said she's taking a wait-and-see approach after Russell's check.

"What really was the problem is (the use of the credit card) violated our purchasing process," Castro said. "I think he realized he made a mistake, and he fixed it. But he's done this before where he has said he's going to make the ship right. Then we have these constant things that add up. He is never open. He is always combative. I'm hoping this is a step in the right direction. We'll see."