SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) - Sangamon County Board Member Sam Cahnman is amending his proposed advisory referendum question to ask voters if Illinois should adopt recall for Sheriff Jack Campbell following his retirement and other elected officials.
Cahnman said, "Fortunately, Sheriff Jack Campbell did the right thing by announcing his retirement by the end of August. Had he not done so, there would have been no way to remove him from office even though he appeared to have lost the confidence of the public, after it was learned that despite red flags Campbell hired the deputy charged in the death of Sonya Massey."
If passed, Cahnman's Resolution would have put an advisory question on the November 5 ballot, asking, "Should Sheriff Jack Campbell resign?"
"Obviously, there is no longer any reason to put that question on the ballot," Cahnman said. "But the larger question remains of what to do in future circumstances when an elected official loses the confidence of the public but insists on staying in the office."
Recall provides a safety valve for those cases, that while rare, do happen, Cahnman said.
There are 38 states that have some type of recall, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Recall lets citizens remove an elected official before their term ends. The process concerns gathering a certain amount of signatures on a petition in a certain amount of time.
Illinois voters adopted recall for the office of Governor in 2010 following Rod Blagojevich's impeachment. This is the only office subject to recall by state law.
The Illinois legislatures has the power to enact recall for local elected officials. Two bills, one for the recall of school board members and one for recall of the Chicago Mayor, have been introduced in the current General Assembly.
Recall of state elected officials would only be enacted by amending the state Constitution.
The Advisory Referendum proposal is Resolution 20 on the County Board's agenda for its meeting Tuesday, Aug. 13 at 6 p.m. If Cahnman is successful in amending the Resolution and it passes the County Board, the question that would be on the Nov. 5 ballot is, "Shall Illinois adopt recall for elected officials." If the majority of Illinois voters select Yes, it will advise legislators of their constituents' views on the issue.
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