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Logan County Board
July Finance Committee Meeting
[July 15, 2026]
On Tuesday, July 14th, the
Finance Committee of the larger Logan County Board held their
monthly meeting in the first-floor courtroom of the Logan County
Courthouse just after 6 p.m. All five of the committee members were
present including Chairman Joseph Kuhlman, Vice Chairman Kathy
Schmidt, Dale Nelson, Keenan Leesman, and Lance Conahan. Fellow
Board members JR Glenn and Kevin Knauer were also present, but
neither are on this committee.
After attendance was taken and guests were introduced, the committee
approved the previous month’s minutes. This took them to the only
item under old business, an RFP (request for proposal) for county
insurance. Conahan shared that he had started the RFP using an old
one from 2011 as reference. This item was moved on to the Workshop
meeting, where the full Board will discuss it further.
Kuhlman moved on to new business. There were a total of seven items
and several caused disagreements in the room. The first, a budget
servicer agreement, was not one of these. This agreement was to hire
the company Bellwether again to help the county with their fiscal
year 2026 (FY26) budget. Schmidt shared that they had hired
Bellwether last year for six months and she felt it worked out very
well. She shared they had not increased their prices with one year
costing $12,000.
Conahan asked if Schmidt was proposing to hire them for the full
year, and she confirmed that she was. Nelson backed Schmidt’s point,
stating he was supportive of this because they helped save the
county a lot of money. He felt it would be a great benefit to the
county. This item was then moved on to Workshop.
The second new business item was for a probation budget amendment.
Kim Turner of the Logan County Probation Office sent an email
sharing that she needed another $9,000 her office added to the FY26
budget. Logan County Treasurer Penny Thomas shared that this was due
to needing a new copier and a few other expenses. She stated that
this amount would likely come out of the contingency fund. This item
was moved on to Workshop.
Third was a discussion over a board credit card. Former Logan County
Administrative Assistant Madelyn Hinton had been given a credit card
by the Board for small items that needed to be paid for when Board
members were not present. Since they have hired a new Administrative
Assistant, they need to get a card in her name.
Conahan mentioned the idea of getting a credit card for a board
member. He stated that, in Hinton’s absence, some things have gone
unpaid for, and it would be possible to pay them if they were still
able to use the card in Hinton’s name. Nelson objected to this idea,
stating that it seemed unnecessary. He stated that it was not the
Board’s policy to use credit cards for bills. The Board already has
accounts open with many of the businesses in town. He called having
another card “an unnecessary risk.” Conahan responded that they have
used the credit card for things around the courthouse before. He
stated that Al Green of the Zoning Office needed something.
Glenn then asked to be addressed and shared that there were already
several people in the courthouse with credit cards, and that all
these cards were on one bill. With this issue addressed, Conahan
made a motion for only the Administrative Assistant to have a credit
card and that the limit be set at $2,000. This item was sent to
Workshop.
Next on the agenda was a discussion
over the compensation for the Logan County Circuit Clerk. Kelly
Elias, who serves in this role, stood to speak on the matter. She
told the committee that she felt like she has done a bad job of
informing them what all her job responsibilities are. She listed
these responsibilities, which included maintaining all court
records, being responsible for all financial functions of the court
system, and state mandated administrative reporting.
Elias then gave an example of this extra work. She stated that there
are times when she gets an order or protection (OP) near closing
hours of her office. According to state law, she must get these
processed as soon as she gets them. In one instance, after working
for an hour past her office’s closing, she had to wait for a court
hearing to end so the OP could be heard. Afterward, she then had to
contact dispatch and get information sent over to them. Elias stated
that this is not the entirety of the process and she has many other
things that she must do with each OP that comes through.
Elias spoke of some other counties increasing the salaries of their
Circuit Clerks. Schmidt then asked what Elias was asking for, and
she said that she asked for an increase in her salary from $80,000
to $90,000 a while back and was told that they would come back
around to it. She then requested that increase.
Nelson clarified that this would be an increase to the position of
Circuit Clerk, and not a decision the committee should make based on
Elias’s performance. Glenn again spoke, stating that, from what he
knows, Circuit Clerks “make or break” the court system. Nelson asked
Elias about a program she finished, to which Elias informed him that
it was a nationally recognized program and that she is currently
working on another one.
Leesman wanted to know about what duties had been added to Elias’s
workload in the last year, and Elias mentioned a few. Conahan stated
that a lot of her work seemed like state mandated things and asked
her if she received a stipend from the state. Elias shared that she
did and Conahan asked the amount. Elias declined to share the
amount, and Nelson stated that, according to the State’s Attorney,
the county was not allowed to take any state compensation into
consideration when considering what the county would pay any elected
official. Elias did share that this amount had not changed since the
1990s.
Leesman suggested hiring a third-party company to evaluate the role.
He stated that he would like an objective opinion on the matter to
help determine if an increase would be fair. Elias asked Leesman if
the committee did that with any of the other elected officials’
salaries, referring to a string of increases that the County Board
approved several months ago. Leesman stated that they “have to start
somewhere,” and then said that it was just his opinion.
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Nelson spoke
again, stating that since they did not do this with the other
salaries they set, maybe they should look into doing it going
forward, but after this one. Conahan spoke, stating that while
he knows the Circuit Clerk’s office brings in a “great deal” of
money for the county, Logan County is also losing the Logan
Correctional Center and stated that the population is
“dwindling.” That, Conahan argued, would lead to a decrease in
tax revenue, which may make increased salaries unsustainable. He
referred to county salaries as one of the county’s “biggest
liabilities.”
Elias responded by stating that it was ultimately up to the
committee to make the decision. She spoke on being the only
elected official that would have to have their job evaluated
before an increase, stating “to single me out is not right.”
Conahan stated that he voted ‘no’ for the other salary
increases, and Elias asked him if he wanted them to be more.
When Conahan stated no, Elias quickly responded by asking
Conahan if he wanted to lower their salaries. Conahan stated
that she did not know that and asked her to stop cutting him
off. He stated that he wanted to be a good steward of the
county’s money.
Knauer then asked to be recognized and
shared that he agreed that having Elias be the only elected official
to have to go through a third-party review would not be fair. He
stated that they should do the same with Elias that they did for the
others before moving to a “new system.”
There was some more discussion over a potential increase, with Elias
giving percentages of other Circuit Clerk increases and Nelson again
speaking on wanting to wait before bringing in a third party. Elias
informed Leesman that she could get him the information he wanted on
what job duties were new, and Leesman stated that this would be
something he would be comfortable with.
Schmidt then made a motion to increase the Circuit Clerk salary from
$80,000 to $95,000. There was a vote and the motion passed, with
Conahan being the only ‘no’ vote.
The fifth agenda item was a brief one, with the company Snedeker
Risk Management needing a letter of agency from the county. It was
stated that this letter would be given to ICRMT (Insurance and Risk
Management for Public Entities). This would allow them to prepare a
quote for the county. The item was approved, with Scmidt being the
only ‘no’ vote.
Next was consideration for making a budget amendment for the
Building and Grounds Committee. Conahan shared that they had
recently hired someone for a newly created part-time facilities
worker position, and this new position would need a line item in the
budget. He said that it would be $15,000 taken from the courthouse
contractual line item.
Nelson and Conahan then had an argument over hiring practices.
Nelson stated that a committee is not supposed to hire a county
employee but simply recommend someone to the full board where they
would decide whether to hire them or not. Conahan stated that the
Executive and Personnel Committee did this, but Nelson stated they
only made a recommendation. The back and forth continued until Glenn
stated that, in his time on the Board, no one had ever been hired
before they came before the full board. Conahan then said that he
would have a motion made at the Workshop meeting to hire the new
employee. The motion for the budget amendment was then unanimously
approved.
The final agenda item for new business was a quarterly tourism
update. Wanda Lee Rohlfs, Director of the Logan County Tourism
Bureau (LCTB), was not present for the update. Conahan informed
Kuhlman that he would have to invite her to come before the full
board for either the Workshop meeting or the regular meeting.
Glenn asked to speak again, stating that if the committee is
considering budget amendments they should also think about line
items for security and rent, if they are going to move their
meetings elsewhere. He said that the longer their meetings run, the
longer they would have to pay security to be at the courthouse.
Since the County Board is now required to hold their Workshop and
regular meetings in the rotunda, they might consider going to a
different space. This would require them to pay for rent and
security. Ultimately, Glenn stated that he was not trying to push
the committee to bring anything forward for a vote, only to get this
item on new business next month for their consideration.
Kuhlman moved on to public comments,
of which there was only one. Chief Deputy Josh Pharis gave praise to
Elias for helping to reunite a lost juvenile from Washington,
Illinois with their family. According to Pharis, the youth rode a
bike from Washington and ended up at Elias’s house. Elias kept the
child fed and called the Sheriff’s Department. They arrived and were
able to reunite them with their family. Pharis stated that the
family was very appreciative.
With public comments over, Kuhlman entertained a motion to adjourn.
[Matt Boutcher]
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