A prior felony conviction bars Algonquin Township Administrator Ed Zimel from serving in his elected office, the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office wrote in a court filing seeking Zimel’s impeachment.

But Zimel’s lawyer argued in court filings that a 32-year conviction had far exceeded any statute of limitations and that the window of opportunity to challenge his client’s right to hold office was closed. He also noted that Zimel served as administrator of Hanover Park for several years without the issue arising.

The lawsuit filed Aug. 12 asks a judge to remove Zimel as a trustee because of a 1990 criminal intimidation conviction in Cook County. Zimel was elected to the township council in April 2021.

A provision of the Illinois townships code states that a person “has been convicted by a court situated in the United States of any infamous crime, bribery, perjury or other crime”, is not eligible to hold office.

This law, added to the township code in 2016, “has no restriction on the age of this felony conviction,” said Norman Vinton, chief of the civil division of the County State’s Attorney’s Office. McHenry.

The state’s attorney was briefed on Zimel’s conviction by Algonquin Township attorney Michael Cortina, Vinton said.

Zimel’s attorney, John Nelson, was hired by the township on July 13 to represent the administrators in ongoing legal disputes with supervisor Randy Funk and Cortina, according to released meeting minutes. Funk voted against the motion, while all four directors voted in favor.

Nelson asked how the crime was discovered. It’s “axe work” on Zimel, he said.

Calls to Funk at his township offices were not returned.

Illinois Township Officials, a state association for township officials, said the 2016 code change puts these councils on the same footing as other governing bodies.

“Counties and municipalities have the same rules,” said director Jerry Crabtree. “We felt the local government as a whole had embraced it, and we were trying to make it uniform across the board.”

Vinton sent a letter to Zimel in June 2021, advising him that if convicted of a felony, he was ineligible to be a director and should resign, according to the legal filing. Zimel did not resign or respond to that letter, Vinton said.

It was the first time in his memory that a complaint asking whether a person had the right to hold a specific office was filed with the state’s attorney, Vinton said.

A similar case is ongoing in Will County.

In June, a judge ruled that Joliet Township Administrator Karl Ferrell could not hold office due to felony convictions. Ferrell remains on the board while an appeal is pending.

In Nelson’s response to the lawsuit, which was filed Thursday, he notes that Zimel was twice elected to the council for the village of Hanover Park. Zimel served on this council from 2009 until 2015, when he resigned following allegations by Mayor Rodney Craig that he did not live in the village. Zimel denied these accusations.

Nelson also argued that the statute of limitations for Zimel’s original charges would have been passed in 1995. Zimel was sentenced to three months house arrest and 30 months court supervision at the time.

Nelson wrote in the response that there was also “unreasonable delay in pursuing any right or claim.”

“There is a process to disqualify candidates from the ballot,” Nelson said. “It was a missed opportunity.”

A hearing on the motion to dismiss is set for 11 a.m. Nov. 16 at the McHenry County Courthouse.