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By: Ancel Glink Diamond Bush DiCianni & Krafthefer, P.C.

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Latest from Municipal Minute

Ancel Glink has released Quorum Forum Podcast Episode 106: Legislative Update. The Illinois General Assembly
recently concluded its spring legislative session and Ancel Glink’s Greg Jones and Tyler Smith join
us to talk about recent legislation local governments should know, including
updates on housing grants, e-bike and e-scooter regulations, hemp regulations,
and more! 
In This Episode:

  • [00:00]
    Baseball Fever:     Greg and Tyler discuss their favorite all-time
    and underrated players, including Lou Whitaker, Barry Bonds, and Anthony
    Rizzo.
  • [03:45]
    The “Build Plan” vs. The “REAL Act”:     We
    review Governor Pritzker’s Build Plan omnibus package, which sought to
    preempt local zoning for

…
Continue Reading Quorum Forum Podcast Ep. 106: Legislative Update

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the removal of a member of the Coast Guard Auxiliary after he refused to stop posting himself in uniform and making derogatory statements on social media in Wenzler v. United States Coast Guard, et al.Wenzler had been a member of the Coast Guard Auxiliary for about 15 years when a member of the public complained about his LinkedIn posts. One of the posts accused certain Supreme Court Justices of being racist, and another made a crude remark about the Girl Scouts. The Auxiliary conducted an investigation, and a supervisor directed him to…
Continue Reading Seventh Circuit Upholds Removal of Public Employee for Social Media Posts

On the final day of its 2026 spring legislative session, the
Illinois General Assembly passed Senate
Bill 3222, creating the Illinois Hemp Act governing hemp-derived products
in Illinois. If signed by the Governor, the Act would repeal the existing Industrial
Hemp Act, effective November 12, 2026.
The federal Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (2018 Farm Bill)
created an exception to the federal definition of “marijuana” for products
meeting the legal definition of “hemp.” This created a loophole under which hemp
was no longer a controlled substance under the Controlled Substances Act, allowing
for the proliferation of synthetic cannabis products,…
Continue Reading Illinois General Assembly Passes Illinois Hemp Act

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Microsoft Copilot, Unsplash

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals sanctioned a lawyer for AI-generated hallucinations and other inaccuracies and errors in a brief filed with the Court in an immigration appeal. Perez-Castillo v. Todd Blanche.

An attorney filed an opening appellate brief with the Seventh Circuit on behalf of his client, who was appealing an immigration removal order. The Court denied the appeal on its merits in the opinion, and also addressed certain problems and irregularities the Court discovered in the appellate brief. The Court noted that about half of the cases cited in the court filing either did not exist or were…
Continue Reading Seventh Circuit Sanctions Attorney for Filing Brief with AI Hallucinations

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals determined that a school district chief talent officer had qualified immunity in a First Amendment case brought by a school district employee who had been terminated for her social media posts in Hayes v. Board of Education.A college administrator responsible for staffing student teachers in a school district was terminated by the school district for making disparaging comments on social media about the district. The comments included criticisms of the school district and its CEO, including circulating a petition calling for the district to investigate and report on racial inequities in the district.
Continue Reading School District Administrator Had Qualified Immunity in First Amendment Challenge

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Katie Moum, Unsplash

As the Illinois General Assembly
draws closer to concluding its 2026 spring legislative session, there are a
number of outstanding bills likely to be considered that would have a
significant impact on local governments throughout Illinois. The General
Assembly has been busy so far in the 2026 spring session passing a number of
bills that will affect local government operations as well as a bill on
regulating electric mobility devices. With three days left until the General
Assembly recesses on May 31st, the Governor’s BUILD Plan
legislation, and other bills impacting local governments, may still be considered.
Below is a…
Continue Reading Illinois General Assembly Spring 2026 End of Session Tracking

Federal appeals court rules against arrestee in challenge to police officer’s seizure of backpack during arrest in U.S. v. Fillyaw.

Local police officers executed a search warrant and arrested an individual in connection with an arson investigation. During the arrest (which took place in an apartment parking lot), police seized the arrestee’s backpack and searched the contents, finding a loaded handgun and drugs. The arrestee filed a motion to suppress the evidence found in the backpack, arguing that the search violated his Fourth Amendment rights. The district court and Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the…
Continue Reading Police Search of Backpack During Arrest Was Lawful

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a county sheriff office’s decision not to hire a candidate for a deputy sheriff position, rejecting the candidate’s racial discrimination claim in Burton v. Will County Sheriff’s Merit Commission.A candidate applied for a deputy sheriff position with a county sheriff’s department. As part of the background check process, the county contacted the candidate’s current employer, who stated that he was not a dependable employee, did not work well with others, and that the employer would not rehire him. Based on that information, the county sheriff’s commission removed the candidate from the hiring…
Continue Reading Seventh Circuit Rejects Discrimination Claim by Candidate for Deputy Sheriff Position

An Illinois Appellate Court upheld a pension board’s award of a non-duty disability rather than a line-of-duty disability in Hull v. Village of Wheeling Police Pension Fund.

A probationary police officer applied for a line-of-duty disability, claiming that a motor vehicle accident while on duty caused disabilities preventing him from returning to work. The pension board conducted a hearing, at which the officer presented evidence in favor of a line-of-duty pension and the village (as intervenor) presented evidence opposing the application, arguing that he was able to work and had, in fact, been employed in various jobs since the…
Continue Reading Court Upholds Pension Board Decision to Award Non-Duty Disability Pension

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Harley-Davidson, Unsplash

We
previously reported about Illinois Senate Bill 3336, which if passed by both houses of the Illinois General Assembly and
signed by the Governor, would make comprehensive changes to the authority of
local governments to regulate several devices and vehicles, including electric
mobility devices (EMDs), motor driven cycles, low-speed electric bicycles, and
low-speed gas bicycles. We wanted to share a couple of updates to the bill, including House Floor Amendments No. 2 and No. 3.

House Floor Amendment No. 2 was
introduced on May 11, 2026, and subsequently recommended for adoption by the
House Transportation: Vehicles and Safety Committee.
Continue Reading Updates on Senate Bill 3336 (E-Bikes, etc)

The Illinois Attorney General’s Public Access Counselor (PAC) found a public body in violation of the Open Meetings Act (OMA) in its fifth binding opinion of 2026 for an inadequate agenda. PAC Op. 26-005.A citizen filed a request for review with the PAC office claiming that a village board violated the OMA at a meeting where it voted on the termination of a village employee. Specifically, the citizen claimed that the agenda only listed “Personnel issues” under a “POLICE & LIQUOR” heading on the agenda, which he claimed was not sufficient to inform the public of the matter on…
Continue Reading Village Board Violated OMA by Not Including "General Subject Matter" of Action Item on Agenda

The Illinois Attorney General’s Public Access Counselor (PAC) issued its 4th binding opinion of 2026 finding a public body in violation of the Open Meetings Act (OMA) by discussing matters in closed session that were not outside the scope of a closed session exemption. PAC Op. 26-004.

A citizen filed an OMA complaint with the PAC claiming that a city council improperly held closed sessions to discuss the potential renovation of city hall and plans for a new city hall. In response to the complaint, the city argued that the city council discussed whether or not the city needed…
Continue Reading PAC Finds City Council in Violation of OMA for Closed Session Discussions

It isn’t often that the Illinois courts apply the “Prosser Rule” to the vote of a city council, but an Illinois Appellate Court did just that recently in Christian v. Buscher. In 2025, a city council held a special meeting to vote on the appointment of a person to fill a vacant city clerk position. The city council (made up of 10 elected aldermen and the mayor) voted five “yea,” three “nay,” and two “present” on the motion to approve an ordinance to appoint a sitting alderman to fill the clerk position. The mayor (who did not vote) announced…
Continue Reading Prosser Rule Applied to City Council’s Appointment of Clerk

In Tire Town Auto, LLC v. Wood County, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals found no due process violation when a county removed a tow company from the county’s tow list. A Wisconsin county maintained a list of towing businesses that were available on a rotating basis to recover vehicles on public roads. After receiving complaints about one of the tow companies, the county removed it from the list and the company sued, claiming the county violated its procedural due process rights in removing it from from the tow list. The county asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing…
Continue Reading Removal of Tow Company from County Tow List Not a Due Process Violation

Ancel Glink’s Quorum Forum Podcast has released a new episode, Episode 105: Anatomy of a Redevelopment Agreement (Part 2). 
In this episode, we return to the Southland Development Authority’s “TIF
Talk” training series for a deep dive into the financial and practical
implementation of economic development deals. Hosted by the Village of Hazel
Crest, this session features Ancel Glink’s
David Silverman, Michio Murakishi (Meech Group),
and Terri Cox
(Matanky Realty Group).
Building on the structural overview provided in Quorum Forum
97:  Anatomy of a Redevelopment Agreement, the panel explores
how municipalities can use RDAs to bridge…
Continue Reading Quorum Forum Podcast Ep. 105: Anatomy of a Redevelopment Agreement (Part 2)

Sunrise at the US Capitol in Washington DC
Andy Feliciotti, Unsplash

In a recent decision, the Illinois Appellate Court upheld a fire protection district’s (District) denial of certain supplemental benefits to a disabled firefighter who was receiving benefits under the Public Safety Employee Benefits Act (PSEBA). Carter v. Fox Lake Fire Protection District.

A firefighter was injured in the line of duty and applied for and received a duty disability pension. The firefighter was also eligible for, and received, benefits under PSEBA, which provides health insurance benefits to public safety officers who suffer a catastrophic injury in the line of duty. For six years, the District provided the disabled firefighter with…
Continue Reading Court Finds Health Reimbursement Benefits Not Covered by PSEBA