The office received the request last week from MacMurray College social work professor Emily Ralph after an emergency meeting was held to take the first steps to look at objections filed against nominating petitions for school board.

In a letter sent to District 117 Director of Human Resources Dana Kinley, it refers to Ralph’s claim that the meeting should have had 48 hours notice.

The letter asks the school board to clarify the reasons it used to determine the meeting was an emergency and describe any notice provided concerning it. The Attorney General also requests a copy of posted notices along with meeting minutes.

Kinley says District 117 has seven days to comply with the request.

“I know that the claim that this was not a bona fide emergency, but it really is up to the electoral board or the board of education what actually constitutes an emergency meeting," says Kinley. "In this case, there was other statutory language by which they had to comply with an objection that had been filed to two school member candidate petitions."

Ralph yesterday also filed a political action committee with the Illinois State Board of Elections. The Citizens Ballot Initiative to Support School District 117 was filed to support the ward-based election model that will appear on the ballot in April.