McHenry Co. Wants To Keep Elected Coroner: Unofficial Results

MCHENRY COUNTY, IL — With the first round of results tallied for this election, McHenry County voters appeared in favor of continuing to elect their coroner instead of allowing for the position to be appointed. With all precincts reporting but an unknown number of mail-in ballots still to be accounted for, 62.54 percent of voters selected no to the following referendum while 37.46 percent picked yes on this question:

"Shall the Coroner of McHenry County be eliminated as an Elected Office and be replaced by an appointed Coroner, appointed by a McHenry County Board Committee, to be effective November 30, 2020?"

The McHenry County Clerk's Office planned to tally results received by mail so far, as well as early and Election Day results, tonight, McHenry County Clerk Joe Tirio said earlier in the day. But thousands of mail-in ballots that had been sent out prior to the election have not been returned. The clerk's office will continue to accept ballots that are postmarked Nov. 3, and the official results will not be available for two weeks.

The finally tally will be posted on the clerk's website on Nov. 18.

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The coroner has historically been picked by voters in McHenry County and other counties throughout the Chicago area, including Kane, Lake and DuPage counties.

The exception is Cook County, where a medical examiner’s office, with a much loftier budget than smaller counties like McHenry, is appointed. Candidates running for McHenry County coroner say the reason for that is due to the higher number of death investigations Cook handles.

“They see thousands and thousands more deaths,” said Michael Rein, a Republican from Woodstock, during a candidate forum hosted by the Northwest Herald in September. “McHenry County does around 175 autopsies per year.”

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Both Rein and his opponent in the coroner’s race, Kelly Leibmann, a Libertarian from Wonder Lake, say the county’s coroner should continue to be picked by voters. Currently, the office is run by interim coroner John Miller of the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office. The interim pick for sheriff came after former coroner Anne Majewski stepped down.

McHenry County Board Chairman Jack Franks and McHenry County State’s Attorney Patrick Kenneally both back the referendum and say hiring a coroner would help to consolidate government and make the office more efficient. The McHenry County Board voted to get the referendum on the ballot in December.

"The coroner's office is plagued by problems caused by many years of mismanagement. However, the only requirements under Illinois law to be elected coroner is that you have to be at least 18 years old and a registered McHenry County voter," Franks, D-Marengo, said in a statement earlier this year. "It's past time to professionalize the office and remove the politics from the vital job of investigating deaths and consoling next of kin."

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The push to eliminate the coroner as an elected position came in part after an evaluation of the office in September 2019 by a third party — Dr. Dennis Kellar, a pulmonologist and sleep medicine specialist.

Liebmann said a move to nix the elected coroner position based on the opinion of a “sleep study doctor who has never been inside a coroner’s office” was not fair. She added that the Illinois Coroner’s Office would’ve come up to evaluate the office for free.

But Kenneally said a sheriff’s office report, completed in August 2019, also showed the coroner’s office had been not put needed security measures in place and mishandled evidence, the Northwest Herald reports.

“When it comes to my position on the coroner’s office, it would be the same irrespective of the sheriff’s report or Dr. Kellar’s report,” Kenneally said. “I just think fundamentally and from a good government standpoint, you just don't need a coroner's office and a lot of times it causes more harm than good."

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Meanwhile, Liebmann believes the move to nix an elected coroner is political. She added that Majewski tried several times to improve the office but her efforts were blocked by Franks.

"I don't think the coroner's office is broken," she said during the September candidate forum. "I do believe it has been purposefully neglected for political reasons."

Rein says he believes there needs to be more collaboration between the sheriff's office, health department and coroner's office — as well as other government offices in McHenry County. He also said there's checks and balances in place for an elected position that prevents possible conflicts of interest since the coroner is currently held accountable by the county board as well as voters.

According to unofficial results, Rein appeared poised to win over Liebmann with 70.7 percent of the vote total. Of the 136,883 votes cast in the race as of late Tuesday night, Liebmann had 40,107 votes, or 29.3 percent, and Rein had 96,776 votes.

Currently, an elected coroner is required under state law to take a 40-hour basic training course within six months, as well as 24 hours of continuing education each year.

OTHER COUNTY RACES

As of 11 p.m., with all precincts reporting -- but potentially thousands of mail-in ballots not yet tallied -- here is a look at the unofficial results for other McHenry County races:

McHenry County Board Chairman

• Mike D. Buehler, Republican: 80,840 votes; 53.09 percent
• Incumbent Jack Franks, Democrat: 71,417 votes, 46.91

Village of Algonquin Ballot Question to Appoint a Clerk Instead of Elect For the Position

• Yes: 3,945, 35.98 percent
• No: 7,018, 64.02 percent

How Did McHenry County Vote For President?

Illinois picked Joe Biden but McHenry County appeared in favor of Trump, according to unofficial results late Tuesday. Trump had 50.6 percent of the vote compared to Biden's 46.98 percent.

Check the McHenry County Clerk's Office website for more results

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