QUINCY, IL -- The Illinois Attorney General's office has issued an opinion about the legal implications of Adams County board members also serving on local school boards.
District Attorney Dennis Gorman announced at Wednesday's Quincy School Board meeting that the opinion came down shortly after 6 p.m. Wednesday evening.
It advises that candidates should not be able to serve on both boards at the same time.
Gorman went on to say, however, that the opinion does not create a vacancy.
Instead, Bud Niekamp, the board member in question, must be removed or must resign to create that vacancy.
New board president Glenn Bemis then announced that the issue would be discussed behind closed doors during the executive session.
Niekamp said, "Six thousand, forty seven people voted for me, and they would be very upset if someone tried to remove me, so for the record, I'm not stepping down."
Later in the meeting as the board was voting for the $5.4 million life safety bond issue, Gorman told the board that legal counsel advised that Niekamp's vote should not be counted because of the existing legal question.
Niekamp expressed discontent about that ruling, but the board voted in favor of the bond issue, with two abstentions.
You'll recall Don McCleary resigned from the Adams County Board earlier this month because of a possible conflict of interest.
McCleary was re-elected to the Liberty School Board in April, and had just been elected president of that board.
On April 14th, Adams County State's Attorney Jon Barnard sent out a news release, stating that he merely requested an opinion from the Illinois Attorney General's office.
The news release went on to say that there had been no legal challenge raised....and that his office planned no legal challenge.
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