Shelby Co., Ill. (ECWd) –

If Austin Prichard is successfully elected as County Board Member during this November’s election, he would, upon entering the office of county board member, place himself in the position of holding an office with an inherent conflict of interest with his current position as the Shelby County Dive Team Commander. He only needs one vote since no one is running against him.

Short of resigning from the dive team commander position ahead of time, Prichard’s action of taking his oath of office and commencing serving the elected term as county board member after the election should serve as his ipso facto resignation from his position as dive team commander.

Occupying both positions would place him in the conflicted position of being called upon to vote on the budget, policies, and other items of the dive team including being called upon to vote on his own position as commander, while also serving as the department head or employee of that department. In essence, he could not, in every circumstance, no matter how remote the possibility, have undivided loyalty to the county board while continuing to serve as the dive team commander.

See Rogers v. Village of Tinley Park for more information on the doctrine of incompatibility, and the elements of the doctrine of common law incompatibility.

For those who may say he could simply abstain from voting on conflicting matters, that is not an option in county government outside the very strict provisions of the Officers Prohibited Activities Act.

“As observed by our Supreme Court in Jones v. MacDonald, supra:  It is no answer to say that the conflict in duties outlined above may never in fact arise. * * * Nor is it an answer to say that if a conflict should arise, the incumbent may omit to perform one of the incompatible roles. The doctrine was designed to avoid the necessity for that choice. [33 N.J. 132, 138, 162 A.2d 817, 820.]“