Will County Democrats seeking reelection to various countywide offices tout their experience and record, but are being challenged by Republicans who are public officeholders as well.

Will County voters will have their choice of reelecting incumbent Democrats for coroner, circuit court clerk, recorder of deeds and auditor or voting for the Republican challenger for four-year terms.

Voters will also select a county clerk for a two-year-term to fill the vacancy when Clerk Lauren Staley Ferry resigned this summer. Only Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow, who has served in the position since 1992, is running unopposed.

Coroner

Coroner Laurie Summers, a Crete Democrat, said during her tenure a new state-of-the-art county morgue was built on time and on budget. The building was designed by a team that specializes in morgue construction, was approved by the County Board in a bipartisan, unanimous vote and constructed without tax increases, she said.

The morgue has made operations more efficient, especially since the previous coroner’s office and morgue were located in two separate cities, she said.

Summers said her office has also successfully identified five cold cases dating back to 1968, and those remains have been returned to their family members.

Summers was named interim coroner five years ago when the previous coroner retired, and she was elected in 2020. A full-time coroner, Summers said she works closely with the sheriff’s office, the state’s attorney’s office, emergency medical technicians and the Will County director of substance use initiatives to combat drug overdoses.

Summers, 66, a registered nurse and former Will County Board member, is challenged by Republican Robert Enright, 47, a licensed funeral home director and embalmer and Plainfield Township collector, which also is the board liaison to the township cemetery.

Enright, of Joliet, said he wants to streamline operations and create a funeral home portal to allow funeral homes to report home deaths online, pay for permits and reports, and receive updates on autopsies. He said it is archaic that he’s had to fax information on home deaths.

Enright said he would also like to improve transparency, saying the coroner puts out minimal information about its death investigations on its Facebook page and often state the cause of death is pending autopsy, toxicology or other results. He said he would provide a follow-up report, especially on high-profile cases, and release information through other means, such as the coroner’s website, while still protecting privacy.

Summers said her office is transparent, stating she fills more than 100 Freedom of Information Act requests per month. She said she is not required by law to issue a news release but does so as a courtesy to the public. Summers said she will not release any information that would impede a police officer’s investigation of a crime scene or hurt a prosecutor’s chances of getting a conviction.

Enright said he would provide more resources from counseling to public service announcements to help prevent deaths from overdoses and suicides.

One complaint he said he’s received from sheriff’s deputies is the coroner’s office response time is too slow.

Summers said her office is on a death scene within about 90 minutes, noting the county is about 849 square miles.Circuit court clerk

Democrat Andrea Lynn Chasteen, 48, of Frankfort is seeking her third term as circuit court clerk and is challenged by Republican Diane Harris, 68, who is on the Joliet Junior College Board and the Joliet Public Library Board.

The office maintains court records for all traffic, civil and criminal proceedings.

Chasteen said she has 30 years of experience in the court system and worked to modernize the office while still allowing people without access to technology to receive paper copies of documents. She said her role is customer driven and many ideas she’s implemented have helped people navigate the court system.

The website has been made compliant with the American with Disabilities Act to help individuals who are visually impaired, Chasteen said. New this year, residents can look up naturalization records and research genealogy on the website.

Chasteen has set up a QR code as a simple way for people to electronically receive court date notifications, make payments or plead and pay for traffic citations.

The office has also worked with municipal, state and county police for tickets to be sent in electronically, Chasteen said. An ongoing project has been to digitize old court records, she said. A pilot project is using artificial intelligence technology to review pleadings in civil and family cases, Chasteen said.

“We are keeping up with technology and modernizing the courts to provide the services our community wants,” Chasteen said. “We are always progressing, always growing.”

Harris said her background on the college and library boards as well as being a small business owner would make her an asset to the office, because she understands budgets and customer service.

She said she would be a taxpayer watchdog and ensure spending is both in check and benefits the taxpayer.

“We are not out to overspend taxpayer dollars,” Harris said.

Harris said she would like to make the court’s services more user-friendly for senior citizens, saying they have mentioned their calls are dropped or there are too many prompts when trying to call the courthouse. She said she would dedicate a seniors only line.

Harris said she believes in term limits to bring fresh ideas to the office.

Recorder of deeds

Karen Stukel, 58, a Democrat from Channahon, is seeking her fifth term as recorder of deeds and is challenged by Will County Board member Raquel Mitchell, a Republican from Bolingbrook.

Stukel said her affiliation with state associations for recorders has provided immeasurable education to best serve the office. She is the vice president of the Illinois Association of County Officials and was past president of the Illinois Association of County Clerks and Recorders. Stukel is also in the process of starting an Illinois chapter for the Property Records Industry Association.

Stukel said such memberships allowed her to bring the most current ideas to the office, which records real estate documents and military discharge papers among other documents.

She said she is especially proud of the property fraud alert system she started, a free service that alerts residents if a document has been recorded in their name. In cases of property fraud, scammers appear to own property without the knowledge of the real property owner.

Stukel said her office was able to detect a property fraud case and alert the state’s attorney’s office and attorney general’s office to bring the perpetrators to justice.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the recorder of deeds office was deemed necessary to remain open, and Stukel said she did not miss work during that time.

Stukel said she is also proud of the Honor Rewards program, which offers veterans discounts at participating Will County businesses.

“I love giving back to the community,” Stukel said.

Mitchell, 51, said she will use her knowledge from being a Will County Board member since 2020 and Wheatland Township trustee from 2013 to 2020 to serve residents.

She said she has nothing personally against the recorder’s office, but believes a change of leadership would bring new ideas and energy.

She said as a former real estate broker, she has looked up property records, requiring clicking on multiple screens, and she proposes a more user-friendly website.

Mitchell said she is also concerned not enough is done to protect property owners from fraud, noting a person’s home is their largest investment.

“We need to do more,” Mitchell said. “We need to be protecting our homeowners and our landowners.”

Mitchell said she would also like to encourage more participation in veterans services and more visibility from the office in the community.

Auditor

Democrat Kevin “Duffy” Blackburn, a certified public accountant who holds certifications as an information systems auditor and fraud examiner, is seeking his fifth term as county auditor, which provides financial transparency and accountability of Will County government.

Blackburn, 46, of Joliet, would like to continue work that enhances internal controls to reduce the risk of fraud, waste and abuse. He was awarded the Illinois County Auditor of the Year award in 2011 and has received multiple awards for excellence in financial reporting and government transparency. The Illinois Policy Institute named Will County as one of the most transparent governments in Illinois.

Blackburn said his office budget is nearly $200,000 less now than when he started, but the office maintains the same level of service.

The county has the highest bond rating by S&P and Moody’s, Blackburn said.

“Our financial position and management is as sound as they can give for county government,” Blackburn said.

Will County is also the first to produce artificial intelligence machine readable financial reports, Blackburn said.

Blackburn said he has an earnest relationship with Will County elected officials and can speak honestly with members of both parties in a nonbiased way.

Blackburn is running against Republican James Buiter, the Crete Township clerk, who did not return multiple requests for comment. A Facebook page, James Buiter, CPA for Will County Auditor, was last updated April 17.

County clerk

The Will County clerk’s race is the only race without an incumbent, and the winner between Democrat Michelle Stiff of Joliet and Republican Annette Parker of Crest Hill will serve the remaining two years of former clerk Lauren Staley Ferry’s term.

The clerk’s office runs elections as well as handles vital records such as marriage, birth and death certificates.

Stiff, 57, is the president of the Joliet Township High School District 204 Board and director of the Workforce Center of Will County.

Parker, 54, is a Will County Board member, the president of the Forest Preserve District Board and executive director of the Lockport Chamber of Commerce.

Parker said she believes her experience with the Chamber running large-scale events with several volunteers is comparable to Election Day. Through her work on the County Board, she said she is familiar with and voted in favor of the new voting equipment put into use during this year’s primary election.

Parker said she understands some people are concerned with the safety of elections and pledges to increase transparency in the clerk’s office.

“I don’t believe there’s a lot of fraud, but people have perceptions things are not right,” Parker said.

Parker said voter rolls should be purged more often, saying she knew of four situations where people who have moved or died received a mail-in ballot. She said the clerk’s office could be more proactive by working with the coroner’s office or recorder of deeds.

Stiff said she would bring a wealth of leadership experience to the office. She said she manages a $6 million budget and has run job fairs that help different groups of people from individuals with special needs, veterans or those who have been incarcerated find employment. As a school board member, she lobbied for legislation to prevent online sales of vaping materials.

One of her goals is to move toward a voting system similar to DuPage County, where residents can use any county precinct on Election Day. Stiff said residents then could use the closest or most convenient precinct to them.

Stiff said the data in the clerk’s office shows election fraud has not occurred, and the office is transparent. The vitals records team is in constant communication with the election team to purge necessary voter rolls. Anyone who is concerned about voter fraud can tour the clerk’s office, she said.

“We have always had safe and secure elections,” Stiff said. “We have safeguards in place.”

Stiff also wants to talk with township clerks to see how the county’s services can be more accessible and better serve residents.

Michelle Mullins is a freelance reporter.