Third time's the charm

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PRINCETON — New arguments were given in the latest complaint filed against the Bureau County Board by County Clerk Kami Hieronymus.

On Wednesday, Bureau County State’s Attorney Patrick Herrmann filed a third amended complaint against the Bureau County Board on behalf of Hieronymus.

Hieronymus’ original complaint was filed last fall after the county board cut $18,000 from her clerk hire budget. The original complaint was dismissed in March, but amended versions of the complaint have been before the courts since that time. The goal of the complaint is for the courts to declare as invalid the county board’s decision to cut Hieronymus’ clerk hire budget.

In Wednesday’s amended complaint, Herrmann said Hieronymus has employed seven deputy clerks since starting her job as county clerk in 1996. The county board has known she’s had seven clerks, and their salaries, since that time, but took no steps to cut her budget before the 2007-08 fiscal year. The county’s finances are in better shape in this 2007-08 fiscal year than it was in previous years, he said.

Herrmann also questioned the extent in which Hieronymus’ department budget was cut. The county clerk’s budget was reduced by 14 percent, while the circuit clerk’s office was reduced by 10 percent, the assessor’s office by 8 percent  and the state’s attorney’s office by 7 percent.

Other county departments even saw increases in their budgets, Herrmann said in the complaint. For instance, the public defender’s department budget increased by 12 percent, the county board’s budget increased by 9 percent, and the sheriff’s department budget increased by 8 percent. Also, the circuit court budget increased by 14 percent, the coroner’s office by 4 percent and the treasurer’s office by 1 percent, Herrmann said.

According to Wednesday’s complaint, the county board knew the reduction of Hieronymus’ clerk hire budget would result in the loss of a deputy clerk because the county’s Fees and Salaries Committee chairman asked if Hieronymus was laying off an employee.

In the complaint, Herrmann listed about 20 pages of mandated duties and responsibilities of the county clerk’s office. Hieronymus cannot carry out the duties of her office with only herself and six deputy clerks, Herrmann said.

“The statutory duties and obligations of the plaintiff (Hieronymus) have not been reduced and the volume of those statuary duties and responsibility have not lessened,” Herrmann said.

The county board must provide the county clerk with funds for reasonable and necessary expenses, Herrmann said. The board can only exercise budget discretion in the county clerk’s deputy clerk hire for non-necessary or non-reasonable expenses, he said.

By setting the clerk hire budget, the county board is determining the salaries and number of her clerks and is usurping Hieronymus’ authority to control the internal operations of her office, Herrmann said.

The Bureau County Board has until July 3 to respond to the Hieronymus complaint. The next court hearing in the case is set for 11 a.m. July 24 in LaSalle County Court.

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