Will County Court judge sides with Mokena Board of Fire and Police Commission's decision to reverse Village's June 2020 firing of commander over residency issue
MOKENA, Ill. – A Will County court has affirmed the November 2020 decision of the Mokena Board of Fire and Police Commissioners to reverse the Mokena Police Department’s termination of a commander who did not adhere to a residency requirement.
The decision was filed May 23 and obtained by Richard Free Press through a Freedom of Information Act request to the Village of Mokena.
The case was before the Circuit Court of the 12th Judicial Circuit in Will County because the Village of Mokena appealed the decision of the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners after it reversed the dismissal of Cmdr. Christopher Carlson, who was terminated by then-Police Chief Steven Vaccaro in June 2020. Carlson – who was first hired by the police department as a patrol officer in 1993 and promoted to commander in July 2018 – had not moved into the Village in a two-year timeframe after being promoted to the role of commander, prompting his dismissal by Vaccaro, who cited a rule stating that the person who filled the position must live within the corporate of limits of Mokena within one year of the appointment.
Carlson, who when he was hired was bound by a 10-mile requirement, had been given an extension of one year due to financial burden.
However, Judge John C. Anderson ruled that promotions for the police department were governed by the Illinois Fire and Police Commission Act – specifically a section that stated, “Residency requirements in effect at the time an individual enters the fire or police service of a municipality (other than a municipality that has more than 1 million inhabitants) cannot be made more restrictive for that individual during his period of service for that municipality, or be made a condition of promotion, except for the rank or position of fire or police chief.”
Anderson ruled that “it is undisputed that the Village made Cmdr. Carlson’s residency more restrictive during his period of service for the Village” and that Vaccaro “conditioned promotion upon establishing residency in the Village.”