Court Opinion

ID: 9725916
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 12:20:21.966213+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:25:21.351711
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE FITZGERALD, dissenting: I agree with the view expressed in Justice Thomas’ dissent — the record in this case precludes consideration of whether Commissioners Kane and Reichart were appointed in conformity with the Act. Therefore, I join in his dissent. I write separately, however, to express an additional basis for dissenting — my disagreement with Chief Justice Harrison’s conclusion that the acts of Kane and Reichart are not valid under the de facto officer doctrine. I would hold that Kane and Reichart were at least de facto commissioners with authority to act. Under the de facto officer doctrine, “[a] person actually performing the duties of an office under color of title is an officer de facto, and his acts as such officer are valid so far as the public or third parties who have an interest in them are concerned.” People ex rel. Chillicothe Township v. Board of Review, 19 Ill. 2d 424, 426 (1960). On grounds of public policy and justice, the acts of a de facto officer are as valid as the acts of an officer de jure. People ex rel. Rusch v. Wortman, 334 Ill. 298, 302 (1928); see also 63C Am. Jur. 2d Public Officers & Employees § 23 (1997) (purpose of the de facto officer doctrine is to “protect the public’s reliance on an officer’s authority and to ensure the orderly administration of government”). Importantly, an officeholder’s eligibility to appointment and the validity of his or her official acts may be challenged only in a proceeding brought directly for that purpose. Wortman, 334 Ill. at 301; see also People v. Woodruff, 9 Ill. 2d 429, 437 (1956); Cleary v. Chicago Title & Trust Co., 4 Ill. 2d 57, 58-59 (1954) (title to a public office cannot be questioned in a mere collateral proceeding). In Chillicothe Township, we applied the de facto officer doctrine and held valid the actions of a county board of review increasing the assessed valuation of the plaintiffs’ property. It was stipulated that, based upon the results of the immediately prior general election, the county board of review should have been composed of two Republicans and one Democrat. The board, however, was composed of two Democrats and one Republican. The plaintiffs argued that because the board was improperly constituted, its actions increasing the assessments were unconstitutional and void. We rejected the plaintiffs’ argument: “Whether the Board of Review was legally constituted or not, the persons acting as such board were performing the duties of the board with apparent right under color of office, and their acts were thus valid as to the public and persons having an interest in them. [Citation.] The Board of Review was thus composed of, at least, de facto officers, and from a review of the record and the authorities presented, its acts were apparently valid.” Chillicothe Township, 19 Ill. 2d at 426-27. We reached a similar conclusion in People v. O’Neill, 33 Ill. 2d 184 (1965). In O’Neill, the State brought an action against the defendant taxpayer for delinquent personal property taxes. The defendant argued that the county board of supervisors was not validly constituted because each township had one supervisor on the board without regard to population, thus violating the “one man, one vote” rule. According to the defendant, because the composition of the board was unconstitutional, its act of levying the personal property tax was illegal. We rejected the defendant’s argument: “We think it is clear beyond question that the members of the Peoria County board of supervisors were at least de facto officers within the traditional definition ***. Their acts in levying, extending and collecting taxes cannot therefore be attacked because of some alleged defect in the apportionment of their membership.” O’Neill, 33 Ill. 2d at 187. See also People ex rel. Engle v. Kerner, 32 Ill. 2d 212, 222-23 (1965) (holding that state senators, although elected from unconstitutionally apportioned districts, were de facto officeholders with authority to act); Cleary, 4 Ill. 2d at 59 (holding that, even assuming the invalidity of the appointment of appellate court justices, such appointment still conferred color of office, and judgments rendered thereunder were valid); Wortman, 334 Ill. at 303-04 (affirming judgment holding election judge and clerk in contempt for malfeasance in their offices where, although their appointments were contrary to statute, they were de facto election officers); Lavin v. Board of Commissioners, 245 Ill. 496, 505-06 (1910) (holding that, without regard to whether the court had authority to appoint defendant a special State’s Attorney, defendant was at least a de facto special State’s Attorney and entitled to compensation). Here, Daniels’ challenge to the appointments of Kane and Reichart, raised for the first time in the appellate court, amounts to an improper collateral attack on their office. Even assuming that Kane and Reichart were not appointed in accordance with the governing statute, they were at least de facto commissioners with authority to act. Accordingly, I dissent.