Carpentersville police chief will be the new Kane County treasurer

Carpentersville Police Chief Michael Kilbourne will be sworn in as the new Kane County treasurer on April 5, and he is expected to resign as police chief and run for the office after filling former Treasurer David Rickert's unexpired term ending Dec. 1, 2022.

Kilbourne has been with the Carpentersville Police Department for more than 30 years, including six years as the chief. He has a master's degree in business administration and serves as an adjunct instructor at Judson University where he teaches public finance, leadership and ethics in the criminal justice management department.

He has also served as the finance committee chairman for North East Multi-Regional Training program, which provides in-service training to law enforcement personnel. And he's served as treasurer for the Illinois Public Pension Advisory Committee.

“I have supervised an organization with 65 employees, managed a budget of over $10 million annually, reported to and worked with an elected body,” he wrote. “My 27 years with the two Carpentersville pension funds have given me a depth of knowledge and experience in managing investments and working with investment professionals.”

A bipartisan panel supervised by former county board member John Hoscheit, and including former state senator and county board chair Karen McConnaughay, spent more than a month interviewing and reviewing applications from eight local Republicans who applied for the job. Other applicants included former county board member Susan Starrett, and Laura Curtis, a recent candidate for state representative.

The county board approved Kilbourne's appointment 20-0 in a special meeting.

Kane County GOP Chairman Ken Shepro, who also serves on the county board, said Kilbourne is a true Republican who has pulled a GOP ballot the last 12 times he voted in primary elections. By law, county board Chair Corinne Pierog and the county board had to select a Republican to fill the seat vacated by Rickert because Rickert was elected as a Republican.

“I commend the county board Chair (Corinne Pierog) for using a process that was open, transparent and nonpolitical,” Shepro said. “One could have said, ‘Let's pick the weakest candidate we can find.' But they clearly picked the strongest candidate. I think we've got a winner.”

Kilbourne is eligible for a second state pension in taking on the job as treasurer, though it would come from a different pension fund from the one he paid into as a police officer.