By:  Diane Benjamin

Since not all readers are in the immediate area:

Darren Duncan was a member of the Vermilion County Board when the Board voted to appoint him to County Treasurer.

Video of the Vermilion County Board meeting where Duncan was appointed County Treasurer: https://youtu.be/eeISUjvr0mE

Top of page 4 March 14, 2017 Vermilion County Board Meeting Minutes.  Vermilion County CB 03 14 17 Minutes

He abstained on his own appointment – which means he voted IN FAVOR of his appointment using the Prosser Rule.

Prosser Rule:

http://www.imlrma.org/file.cfm?key=464

https://law.justia.com/cases/illinois/supreme-court/1982/54922-6.html

Illinois Election Code, Vacancies:   10 ILCS 5/25-11   http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/fulltext.asp?DocName=001000050K25-11

The vacancy shall be filled within 60 days by appointment of the chair of the county board or board of county commissioners with the advice and consent of the county board or board of county commissioners.

Section 1 of the Public Officer Prohibited Activities Act prohibits this appointment!

http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=689&ChapterID=11

(50 ILCS 105/1) (from Ch. 102, par. 1)
    Sec. 1. County board. No member of a county board, during the term of office for which he or she is elected, may be appointed to, accept, or hold any office other than (i) chairman of the county board or member of the regional planning commission by appointment or election of the board of which he or she is a member, (ii) alderman of a city or member of the board of trustees of a village or incorporated town if the city, village, or incorporated town has fewer than 1,000 inhabitants and is located in a county having fewer than 50,000 inhabitants, or (iii) trustee of a forest preserve district created under Section 18.5 of the Conservation District Act, unless he or she first resigns from the office of county board member or unless the holding of another office is authorized by law. Any such prohibited appointment or election is void. This Section shall not preclude a member of the county board from being appointed or selected to serve as (i) a member of a County Extension Board as provided in Section 7 of the County Cooperative Extension Law, (ii) a member of an Emergency Telephone System Board as provided in Section 15.4 of the Emergency Telephone System Act, (iii) a member of the board of review as provided in Section 6-30 of the Property Tax Code, or (iv) a public administrator or public guardian as provided in Section 13-1 of the Probate Act of 1975. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to prohibit an elected county official from holding elected office in another unit of local government so long as there is no contractual relationship between the county and the other unit of local government. This amendatory Act of 1995 is declarative of existing law and is not a new enactment.
(Source: P.A. 100-290, eff. 8-24-17.)

(50 ILCS 105/4) (from Ch. 102, par. 4)
    Sec. 4. Any alderman, member of a board of trustees, supervisor or county commissioner, or other person holding any office, either by election or appointment under the laws or constitution of this state, who violates any provision of the preceding sections, is guilty of a Class 4 felony and in addition thereto, any office or official position held by any person so convicted shall become vacant, and shall be so declared as part of the judgment of court. This Section does not apply to a violation of subsection (b) of Section 2a.
(Source: P.A. 100-868, eff. 1-1-19.)