Sangamon County voters on April 1 will decide whether to eliminate the office of recorder of deeds and transfer its duties to the county clerk, effective Dec. 1, 2026.
The timeline of the vote and its impact were different from what was originally proposed by Republican leaders of the GOP-controlled County Board. But Democrats on the board said the plan, if approved by a majority of voters, would carry out a campaign promise of newly elected Republican Recorder Frank Lesko to “hire me to fire me.”
The County Board’s 24-2 decision finalized the referendum at its Jan. 13 meeting, the last day the board had a chance to put a referendum on the next election ballot. The move represented a rare win for Democrats in altering the will of GOP leaders.
“I think Mr. Lesko’s campaign promise should be upheld, and we should allow him and allow voters of Sangamon County to have the final say as soon as possible to save the taxpayers money,” board member Anthony DelGiorno, a Springfield Democrat, said before the final vote.
Lesko was elected to a four-year term in November 2024 by only 31 votes over longtime incumbent Democrat Josh Langfelder for the $113,936-a-year job. Langfelder opposed Lesko’s plan to merge the recorder’s office with the clerk’s office, currently led by Republican Don Gray.
When asked whether Democrats who backed Langfelder could be accused by Republicans of insincerity, DelGiorno said after the meeting, “You could say disingenuous. … We’re just helping them keep their campaign promise. They didn’t want the office in the first place? Fine. We’ll get rid of it. We’ll put it to the people to vote on that.”
Rural Rochester resident Tom Madonia Jr., the board’s Republican vice chairperson, initially proposed an amendment to DelGiorno’s original resolution that would have delayed a referendum on the question until November 2026.
Madonia’s amendment also called for a study to guide the transition and would have folded the recorder’s office duties into the clerk’s office on Dec. 1, 2028, at the end of Lesko’s term.
A Democratic effort to defeat Madonia’s amendment outright failed in a vote that followed party lines, prompting DelGiorno to tell Republicans, “You’re protecting Frank Lesko for four freakin’ years.”
DelGiorno’s proposal called for a referendum on the issue in April 2025 and elimination of the recorder’s office on April 1, 2026.
But Board Chair Andy Van Meter, a Springfield Republican, favored a 2028 sunset for the recorder’s office to allow for a study and a smooth transition.
“I personally think this is rushed and not advisable,” Van Meter said before the final vote. Van Meter didn’t cast a vote on the measure. The board’s rules call for the chairperson not to vote except to break a tie.
DelGiorno said most counties in Illinois, including Champaign County in December 2021, have consolidated their recorder’s and clerk’s offices, so a delay until 2028 wasn’t justified, and a study would waste taxpayers’ money.
A series of amendments to Madonia’s original amendment, and debate on the pros and cons, eventually yielded bipartisan support to put the idea in front of voters on April 1 and, if a majority of voters approve, eliminate the recorder’s office in December 2026.
DelGiorno said afterward that he was “stunned” the tweaks proposed by Democrats were successful.
“Common sense won, for once,” he said.
Madonia ended up voting for the final, amended proposal, saying, “I’m happy with the compromise.”
Lesko, who wasn’t present for the vote, said he supports the April referendum and potential December 2026 elimination of his office even though he campaigned with the expectation of a November 2026 referendum. He estimated the savings to taxpayers at between $200,000 and $400,000 through the elimination of his position and staff reductions through attrition.
Republicans did carry out an expected defeat of a Democratic-sponsored resolution to stop a referendum question from being placed on the April ballot that would have asked voters to create a process for removing a future county sheriff mid-term through a recall election.
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Referendum would give voters the option to recall future sheriffs
The recall option was inspired by the refusal of former sheriff Jack Campbell to resign in the wake of the July 6 killing of Woodside Township resident Sonya Massey by a sheriff’s deputy who later was fired. Campbell, a Republican, decided to retire amid the uproar.
The 7-19 defeat of Democratic board member Sam Cahnman’s resolution saw only Democrats voting for the measure despite pleas to establish recall through an April 1 binding referendum.
Those pleas came from the public, Massey’s family and the citizen commission the board formed in the wake of the nationally publicized killing of Massey.
Republicans indicated they agreed with Van Meter, who said state law is unclear whether Sangamon County, as a non-home-rule unit of government, has the power to enact a recall process for sheriff or any other countywide official.
“Personally, I don’t think that’s a responsible position to take,” Van Meter said.
He told Republicans during their caucus before the regular board meeting that any future sheriff ousted through recall could challenge the process in court and potentially overturn the efforts of approximately 8,000 county residents who would be needed to sign petitions triggering a countywide recall vote.
“This is really ill-advised,” Van Meter said. He said the best option would be to call on the Illinois General Assembly to change state law and give non-home-rule counties explicit power to establish recall for elected officials.
Van Meter’s statement and opinion on the county’s recall rights were backed up by Assistant State’s Attorney Joel Benoit, the board’s legal adviser.
Republicans also have voiced concerns about the legal expenses the county could incur in defending what Van Meter said could be “a huge lawsuit over whether this power exists.”
Democrats and the public told the board the legal risks were worth it to help restore trust in the sheriff’s department.
Republicans also used their majority on the board to turn down a Democratic proposal that the board ask State’s Attorney John Milhiser, also a Republican, to request an opinion from the Illinois attorney general on the county’s right to establish recall for the sheriff.
Milhiser previously declined a request from Democrats on the board to seek an attorney general opinion, which isn’t binding in court. Milhiser told Democrats he agreed with Benoit’s opinion, according to DelGiorno.
Cahnman’s resolution to establish recall through referendum failed, 7-19, even after Massey’s mother, Donna Massey of Springfield, and family friend Teresa Haley, former president of the NAACP’s Springfield branch, requested passage on behalf of Sonya Massey’s family.
Donna Massey, 68, who dabbed tears from her eyes during the meeting, walked up to the podium with Haley and said, “I don’t know why I’m here ’cause you ain’t going to get nothing from me but tears.”
Haley then said, “Please do the right thing, County Board. This is not about politics. This is about people. This is about a human being.”
Rural Springfield resident Don Hanrahan said it would be “ludicrous” for the board to deny voters the chance to weigh in on the recall process because of concerns about a legal challenge with an uncertain outcome.
He asked the board to approve the referendum question and quell his skepticism that the board created the Massey Commission only to “diffuse the legitimate anger of the people and to channel their demands for change into some safe harbor of endless minutiae and do-nothingism.”
Commission member Calvin Christian III, a local journalist, told the board on behalf of the commission that a potential legal challenge is an “acceptable risk.”
“To dismiss this recommendation would undermine not only the work of the commission but also the faith that the citizens of Sangamon County have placed in both our commission and the County Board,” Christian said.
This article appears in A critical loss for District 186.
