New Union County state's attorney set to take office Monday

A ceremony to administer the oath of office for Union County’s new state’s attorney is planned Monday morning, Sept. 16, in Jonesboro.

Daniel Klingemann is set to take the oath of office during the ceremony, which is set for 8:15 a.m. in Courtroom 1 at the Union County Courthouse in Jonesboro.

The oath of office will be administered by Judge Tyler R. Edmonds.

Edmonds had been serving as state’s attorney until August, when he resigned the post to accept a judicial appointment.

Klingemann formerly had served in the Union County state’s attorney’s office with Edmonds. 

Edmonds is a Democrat. His successor as state’s attorney needed to be a Democrat.

Klingemann will take office in the aftermath of legal action which had been filed over his appointment by the Union County Board of Commissioners. The case was dismissed last week.

On Aug. 27, the county board of commissioners approved a resolution to fill the vacant post of state’s attorney.

The resolution to fill the vacancy was approved by the county board’s three Republican commissioners: Max Miller, David Gould and Kent Miller. The two Democrats on the five-member board, Bobby Toler Jr. and Dale Foster, voted no.

The approval of the resolution was followed immediately by legal action which was taken by Teresa Vincent, who is the chairwoman of the Union County Democratic Party.

Vincent had recommended another candidate to fill the vacancy in the state’s attorney’s office. 

The Democratic Party chairwoman filed a case against Union County Board of Commissioners chairman Max Miller.

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The case was a combined complaint and request for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction.

The case alleged that Klingemann was not statutorily eligible for appointment as state’s attorney because he was not a member of the Democratic Party.

A hearing in the case was held Thursday morning, Aug. 29, at the Union County Courthouse in Jonesboro. During the hearing, Miller was given time to respond to the case.

Vincent subsequently filed a motion to dismiss the case last week. Court records showed the motion to dismiss was filed on Sept. 4.

Democratic Party Chairwoman’s Statement

Vincent issued the following statement regarding the matter:

“On August 12th in person and again on August 23rd in writing, I requested Mr. Miller provide me with any information he possessed indicating Mr. Klingemann was a member of the Democratic Party.  

“Because he refused to do so, I filed an action on behalf of the Union County Democrats on August 29th requesting the Court prevent Mr. Miller from finalizing the appointment of anyone to the position of Union County States Attorney unless Mr. Miller could prove his selection was a Democratic party member.

“On August 29th, Mr. Miller’s Chicago counsel provided us a copy of David Lawler’s November 2017 Judicial Democratic candidacy petition that Mr. Klingemann had signed.  

“As alleged in my complaint, signing a Democratic candidate’s petition is one method provided for in the Illinois Election Code to prove a person’s political party affiliation.  

“I only wish that Mr. Miller had worked with me and provided this information prior to my forced filing of the enforcement action. His lack of cooperation caused both sides to needlessly incur expenses and waste time and taxpayer money.

“Because Mr. Miller has belatedly complied with the law and provided evidence that Mr. Klingemann is a member of the Democratic Party, I instructed my counsel to dismiss the Union County action. 

“Both the Union County Democratic Party and I welcome Mr. Klingemann to Union County and wish him the best in filling the vital office of Union County States Attorney.”

“Max Miller did not take the Democrat party’s written recommendation which is the established procedure and protocol,” Vincent added.

“However, that is not an issue which can be won in the courts. Chairman Toler, when he was chair and the Republicans had two Republican openings on the board, followed the procedure of asking for Republican Chair recommendation and then honored it.  Unfornunately Max Miller did not follow the established procedure.”

County Board Chairman’s Statement

County board chairman Max Miller last week issued the following statement regarding the case:

“Every action that I have taken has been in compliance with the Election Code.  

“Illinois Election Code 10 ILCS 5/25-11 governs the appointment of an individual to a vacancy in the Office of the State’s Attorney.  

“Chairwoman Vincent has been erroneously relying on section 10 ILCS 5/25-6 which governs the appointment of a vacancy of the office of State Senator or Representative in the General Assembly.

“I performed my due diligence before making the appointment.  

“Mr. Klingemann assured me he was a member of the Democratic Party which is the requirement by statute. 

“However, on August 29th after Chairwoman Vincent filed a lawsuit, Mr. Klingemann provided me with a petition supporting his statement of candidacy he signed as additional proof.  

“This document was in the hands of the legal counsel for Chairwoman Vincent within 3 hours of receipt.  

“This document and information is accessible to the public and is something Chairwoman Vincent should have investigated prior to filing a lawsuit and costing the taxpayers of Union County.  

“Based on the information Chairwoman Vincent has dismissed her case.  However, In the Motion to Dismiss Chairwoman Vincent misrepresented the law and the facts and interjected politics into the proceedings.  

“As I read from my statement at the board meeting on August 27th, I did not and will not make decisions based on politics when representing the tax payers of Union County.  

“Chairwoman Vincent failed to conduct an investigation into her own allegations. This ludicrous lawsuit has cost the tax payers of Union County thousands of dollars.”

On Sept. 5, Miller filed a response to a motion to dismiss which had been filed by Vincent.

The response noted that Miller was required to appoint a Democrat as the new state’s attorney, “which he did.”

The response stated that Klingemann had “signed an affidavit, under oath, declaring that he was a democrat on August 26, 2019, which he provided to Chairman Miller.

The response further declared that “...to set the record straight, this lawsuit should never have been filed in the first place.”