BPI Scores Victory for Honest Government in State Supreme Court

In a unanimous opinion, the Illinois Supreme Court upheld the authority of Cook County’s Independent Inspector General to investigate possible corruption in the Cook County Assessor’s Office.

In 2012 Cook County Independent Inspector General Patrick Blanchard served a subpoena on Joseph Berrios, the Cook County Assessor, seeking records concerning allegations that an assessor’s office employee improperly received a homeowner’s exemption. Maintaining that the Cook County IIG had no authority to investigate his office because he is an independently elected official, Berrios refused to comply with the subpoena.

After both the Cook County Circuit Court and the Illinois First District Appellate Court ruled against him, Berrios appealed to the Illinois Supreme Court. The Court’s opinion this morning, calling Berrios’ argument “fundamentally flawed,” holds that Cook County had full authority to vest the IIG’s office with “the means of addressing possible corruption, fraud, and other specified types of malfeasance within its offices.”

The decision, a case of first impression, is signally important for three reasons. First, it clearly establishes the authority and jurisdiction of the Independent Inspector General to investigate wrongdoing in the Assessor’s office. Second, the decision may be extended by precedent to the offices of other independently elected Cook County officials. Third, other jurisdictions in the State may rely on the decision to create their own Inspectors General.

“This is an important ruling that firmly supports the authority of the Office of the Independent Inspector General to detect, deter and prevent corruption in the operation of Cook County government,” Blanchard said, adding that the ruling has impact beyond his office. “It affirms the ability of a county or municipality to create an Independent Inspector General’s Office and give it subpoena power,” Blanchard said.

BPI Senior Staff Counsel Alexander Polikoff, acting in the capacity of Special State’s Attorney, represented Blanchard throughout the four-year dispute. “Today’s ruling is more than a victory for the Independent Inspector General of Cook County,” Polikoff said. “It is also a victory for open and honest government, and therefore for the people of Cook County and, more broadly, Illinois.”