In a 13-11 vote last night, the Ogle County board rejected a recommendation by Chairman Kim Gouker of Byron in appointing Thomas Suits of Polo as the new State's Attorney.
The county is looking for a replacement for current Ogle County State's Attorney Ben Roe who will be sworn in as a Circuit Judge on January 7th.
Suits was 1 of 4 candidates who was interviewed last Thursday for the position. The other candidates included Mike Rock from the State's Attorney's office, former Associate Judge Robin Minnis, and public defender Eric Morrow.
The 5 county board members that handled the interviews were Gouker, John Finfrock, Bruce McKinney, Greg Sparrow and Bill Welty.
McKinney changed his mind on Suits. He told Newstalk 1060 that he voted no due to Suits' lack of prosecuting experience in the courtroom.
The county board met behind closed for about an hour prior to the vote. They are expected to meet in special session before January 7th to appoint a State's Attorney for Ogle County.
The individual would hold the position for 2 years since Roe was recently re-elected last month to a 4-year term. There will be a special election for the final 2 years of the term during the General Election in November of 2014.
Appointments last night included Kathleen Wilson of Oregon to the Mental Health 708 Board. She had been the Chairperson of the board.
The electrical aggregation issue for Ogle County was tabled until next month. It may be placed on the April Consolidated Election ballot.
The mileage reimbursement figure goes back to the internal revenue rate while county board members do not meet the requirements now for Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund benefits due to the increase in hour standards.