Kane County Board attorney selected by Lauzen resigns
Kane County has lost a key figure in its battle against a big-money lawsuit. Pat Kinnally, board Chairman Chris Lauzen's hand-picked selection to be the county board's attorney, has resigned.
Kinnally had been absent in recent weeks. No explanation surfaced until Thursday when Kane County State's Attorney Joe McMahon announced he would begin a search for someone to take on Kinnally's duties. McMahon's office then released a resignation letter from Kinnally with an effective date of Nov. 4.
"After considerable thought and some compunction, I have decided to resign my position as special assistant Kane County state's attorney," Kinnally wrote.
Kinnally sent the letter Oct. 20. That's right about the time county officials began exploring a lawsuit against opioid drug manufacturers. It's also about two months after Maxxam, a group seeking to open a drug and alcohol treatment center near Campton Hills, filed a $68 million federal discrimination lawsuit against the county for denying the necessary zoning.
Kinnally played a vital role in the public hearings involving that facility, including the cross-examination of the company's management team.
Before that, there were signs of a weakening relationship between Kinnally and Lauzen.
In May, emails surfaced showing Lauzen reaching out to Kinnally for legal advice to deal with a complaint filed against the chairman by Sheila McCraven. The county's former executive director of human resources alleged Lauzen engaged in a pattern of "harassment, intimidation and demotion" against her during an investigation of inappropriate conduct by Don Biggs, Lauzen's hand-picked executive director of building management.
The emails show Lauzen requested a labor law specialist through Kinnally but was denied three times.
In October 2016, Kinnally sided with McMahon in an opinion that Lauzen had improperly hired outside legal counsel to explore options to bring new revenue to the county. Lauzen said he hired consultants. Kinnally said there "is no doubt in my mind" that the firm Lauzen hired provided legal services.
Kinnally did not mention any particular catalyst for his decision to resign.
"During your tenure, I hope we helped guide the county in some small way," Kinnally wrote to McMahon.
He closed the letter by saying his plans include staying on as the attorney for the forest preserve district. The district is overseen by fellow Republican Mike Kenyon.
Lauzen and Kenyon have been chief political rivals since 2010. That's when Lauzen called upon Kenyon to resign as the leader of the Kane County GOP. Kenyon fired back by saying Lauzen had a "small brain" and "some sort of a mental problem."
McMahon said Thursday he would not replace Kinnally with another outside lawyer, as has been the tradition. Instead, McMahon will provide legal services to Lauzen and the county board in-house by hiring a new staff attorney. The budget for the new hire is $112,480. McMahon will take that money from existing legal services line items in other county departments.