Jefferson County Board votes to remove Ten Commandments monument
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REMOVING MONUMENT — The Jefferson County Board voted 7 to 3 Monday to remove the Ten Commandments monument from the courthouse lawn. The action is in response to a recent lawsuit that was filed seeking the monument’s removal.
MOUNT VERNON — The Jefferson County Board Monday approved a measure to remove the Ten Commandments monument that is currently located on the lawn of the Jefferson County Courthouse.
County Board Chairman Cliff Lindemann said that the decision was related to a recent lawsuit that was filed earlier this month, seeking the monument’s removal. The county board voted 7 to 3 in favor of the removal, with Lindemann, Adam Ortgiesen and Tim Marlow voting against the measure. Randy Edwards and James Malone abstained from the vote. The motion for the removal was made by Fisher Overstreet, and was seconded by Tyler Williams.
“We’re not admitting anything about it being unconstitutional or anything,” Lindemann said Tuesday. “We’re just moving it because we don’t want to spend taxpayer money to fight a lawsuit that would cost us a lot.”
Jefferson County Sheriff Jeff Bullard said that the county board’s vote Monday came after the county’s insurance company, CIRMA, recently denied the county’s claim to be defended in the lawsuit.
“This denial creates a potentially significant financial risk to the taxpayers, in the worst case scenario,” Bullard said. “While we are confident that we would prevail before the U.S. Supreme Court, there is a possibility we would lose in the lower courts and then the High Court refuse to hear our case on appeal. If that happened, the county would be stuck with the lower court’s decision, forcing the county to pay the ACLU’s attorney’s fees, which could be over a million dollars. Without insurance coverage, that cost would be on the taxpayers. The county board, and I cannot in good conscience risk that.”
Bullard added that he’s “very disappointed” in CIRMA, which allegedly used “injunctive relief loophole language” in the county’s insurance policy to get out of defending the claim.
“It is a sad day when we lose this fight not based on the merits, but because of bureaucrats,” Bullard said. “This is my responsibility, as I began this initiative. I did not realize in my planning that there was a loophole in the county’s insurance policy. I will be reaching out to each donor with an apology for getting their hopes up only to later be let down by these developments. I thank the county board members that originally supported this monument project and will assist the board in moving the monument to private property. Again, no tax dollars will be used.”
No firm time frame has been provided for the monument’s removal. Lindemann said that the monument will likely be relocated to West Salem Trinity Church at 4212 Broadway in Mount Vernon.
The lawsuit in question was brought forth by a group of “multi-faith and non-religious Jefferson County taxpayers and residents” who are represented by the ACLU of Illinois, the Freedom From Religion Foundation and the ACLU. The listed plaintiffs are Pastor Marilyn Neal, Roberta Shallenberger, Paul Lynch, Calvin McClintock, Sue Tomlin, Roberta Evans and Susan Davis.
The lawsuit’s defendants include the Jefferson County Board of Commissioners, Jefferson County itself and all of the current Jefferson County Board members. The lawsuit is characterized as a “verified petition for declaratory relief and an order of mandamus or injunction,” Sentinel archives state.
The roughly six-and-a-half foot tall, mostly granite structure was installed at the courthouse last year. It was initially located in the center of the first floor lobby. However, in October of 2024, it was moved outside of the building to make it more in compliance with case law, the archives state. The Jefferson County Board approved of the new outside location.
In March of 2024, a group of several interested Jefferson County churches and private individuals came forward to provide the financial support to place the monument in the courthouse. After the monument was installed, the Freedom From Religion Foundation sent a letter to the Jefferson County Board, asking for the monument’s removal on constitutional grounds.
The new lawsuit alleges that the relocation of the monument to its current outdoor location was paid for using “public dollars,” a claim that the sheriff disputes. Sheriff Jeff Bullard said that donations were used to create the monument and place it inside of the courthouse, using a private contractor. When it was decided to move it outside of the courthouse, a private contractor was used again, and “non-taxpayer specialty funds” that are not part of the county’s budget paid for it, Bullard said previously. The money to pay for the relocation was from a sheriff’s office specialty fund, derived from commissions charged to inmates using texting devices. No tax dollars were used, Bullard said.
No initial court date is available for the lawsuit. It is unclear whether the county board’s vote to relocate the monument will result in the lawsuit being withdrawn or dismissed.
Other county board actions Monday included:
- The board voted to reject the current Fraternal Order of Police union contract proposal for Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office road deputies and telecommunicators. Their current union contract ends on Dec. 1, and negotiations remain ongoing.
- The board approved expanding the Woodlawn Fire Protection District Board from five members to seven members. Supporters say that this will help with recruitment and help ensure the board has a quorum for their meetings.
- The board approved a committee assignment related to opioid funds. This committee will look at how to spend funds the county received from litigation related to the opioid crisis.
- The board heard an update on county finances, and approved the Rice Sullivan Audit for FY 2023-2024.
- The board approved a notice of annual salary reimbursement (COLA) for state’s attorneys, public defenders and the sheriff per state statute.
- The board approved the payroll distribution report, the animal shelter report and the public defender’s report.
- The board approved reappointing Mike Warren to the Rend Lake Conservancy District, and Lori Given to the Jefferson County Board of Health.
