During its September term, the Illinois Supreme Court heard oral argument in Bettis v. Marsaglia. Bettis presents an issue of potential significance to election lawyers: is a petition for Circuit Court review from an Electoral Board decision which isn’t served on the Board itself procedurally defective? Our detailed summary of the facts and lower court rulings in Bettis Is here.

Bettis arose from a proposed ballot proposition regarding the School District’s issuance of working cash bonds. Objections were filed, alleging that the plaintiff’s petitions were unnumbered and improperly bound. The Electoral Board agreed, and the plaintiff filed a petition for review in the Circuit Court.

The plaintiffs served every individual member of the Electoral Board, plus the two objectors. The problem was, they didn’t serve the Electoral Board as a separate entity. The defendants moved to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction, and the Circuit Court agreed.

Bettis turns on Section 10-10.1(a) of the Election Code (10 ILCS 5/10-10.1(a)). According to the statute, a party seeking judicial review of a decision of the Electoral Board must “file a petition with the clerk of the court” and “serve a copy of the petition upon the electoral board and other parties to the proceeding by registered or certified mail within 5 days after service.” The districts of the Appellate Court are split on whether the statute requires service on the Electoral Board as an entity, or if service on all the members is enough. In Bettis, the Fourth District followed the First District’s view that the statute requires service on the Board and affirmed dismissal.

Counsel for the plaintiff began the Supreme Court argument. He argued that the purpose of the statute is to let the board know that the party has filed a petition for review, since the board must prepare the record. Plaintiff served every member of the Board by registered mail – plus the School Board, the superintendent, the secretary of the board, the secretary of the school district and the objectors to boot. Chief Justice Garman asked whether the case was moot. Counsel pointed out that although the election was in 2013, the plaintiff had asked that it be reviewed as a recurring issue of great interest. Justice Thomas asked whether the plaintiff was asking for any particular relief beyond an opinion saying that the lower courts were wrong. Counsel said he wanted a declaration that service on the individuals was sufficient. Without that, the Board can probably proceed to issue the bonds. If the plaintiff wins at the Supreme Court, the case goes back to the trial court for review of the Electoral Board’s decision. If not, the Board can proceed with the bonds without the voters’ involvement. Justice Burke wondered why, if service on the Board wasn’t mandatory, the legislature wouldn’t have said service on the members of the Electoral Board. Counsel responded that in fact, the Electoral Board doesn’t have an address or phone number. Justice Burke asked counsel whether he was arguing that compliance with the statute was an impossibility. Counsel answered that he wouldn’t know where to mail it to. Moreover, he pointed out, the statute doesn’t refer to the board as a legal entity – it uses lower case initial letters, rather than a proper noun. Justice Theis asked whether the statute was ambiguous, and if so, why? Counsel answered that he believed the reference to the board means the members, and the Fifth District has agreed. Justice Theis suggested that the plain language says service on the Board, and once again, asked whether and how the statute was ambiguous. Counsel answered that whether or not the statute is ambiguous depends on what the reference to the board requires, and whether service on all members is enough. Justice Burke pointed out that the plaintiff was arguing that it was impossible to serve the board, and counsel again argued that the board has no address. Justice Theis asked whether the clerk receives filings for the board, and counsel responded that the superintendent was listed as the person to file petitions with to get on the ballot – which is what plaintiff did. Justice Theis asked counsel whether he was saying the entire statute was ambiguous because it doesn’t give an address for the board? Counsel explained that the Fifth District held that service on the members was sufficient because the board before it had no address, and the court believed it would be useless to serve the county clerk in the board’s stead. Chief Justice Garman pointed out that issues involving notice or service typically revolve around strict or substantial compliance. Was counsel arguing that that’s not the question in Bettis, or was the plaintiff arguing impossibility? Counsel explained that in Cook County, some agencies have fixed offices. In southern Illinois, that typically isn’t the case. The purpose of the statute is to ensure that the board has notice, and that was done – they actually prepared the record, their only function in the administrative review case.   Justice Thomas suggested that counsel was arguing issues from the cross-appeal even though he had not filed a brief in the cross-appeal – had counsel thereby waived the right to argue on those issues? Counsel answered that the plaintiff was precluded from presenting testimony, and therefore the plaintiff doesn’t have a complete record from the Board to fully present her arguments. Justice Thomas suggested that the plaintiff certainly had a right to file a reply brief to respond to the cross-appeal issues. Counsel answered that since the plaintiff had moved to strike those issues at the Appellate Court, and the Appellate Court ultimately didn’t reach them, he didn’t think it was appropriate to brief the issues. The only issue considered by the Appellate Court was adequate service.

Counsel for the Electoral Board members followed. He argued that the members were seeking finality. Counsel told the Court he was present at the trial court, and had he wanted to file the record, he would have had to first move for leave to intervene, since the Board wasn’t a named party either. Counsel argued that it simply isn’t true that the Electoral Board has no mailing address – the address is provided in the Election Code as being the regular meeting place of the school board. Justice Thomas noted that some courts have suggested that the statute requires service on both the Board and all individual members, and asked counsel to point to language in the statute requiring that. Counsel answered that the Administrative Review Law provides the procedure, and it’s fundamental that all members of the agency are parties to the order under review. Justice Thomas said that Section 10-10.1 requires service on the Electoral Board, and Section 10-9.5 defines what the Electoral Board is; it defines the Board as its several individual members. So why can’t that definition be read into Section 10-10.1, leading to the view that service on the members is service on the Board? Counsel answered that the Board is a separate entity from its members. Justice Thomas suggested that the Board here isn’t a permanent entity like the State Board of Elections is. These boards are formed temporarily to resolve disputes, and the statute spells out who serves. So if there are two reasonable interpretations of the statute, why shouldn’t the Court err on the side of ballot access? Counsel answered that the ballot access principle was about candidates seeking to get on the ballot – it had never been applied to referenda. Justice Kilbride asked whether the Administrative Review Law was applicable here. Counsel agreed it was, and Justice Kilbride asked whether the Administrative Review Law settled the issue – in Section 3-106 and 3-105, it says that service on the director or agency head is service on a board, and failure to serve is not a basis for dismissal. Justice Kilbride asked whether the chair of the board was served, and counsel said yes, and his home address. Justice Kilbride asked how the chair was referenced in the pleadings, and counsel answered by name, nothing more. Justice Burke asked whether counsel was elevating form over substance – all parties were served and had notice. Where did the statute require that all members be named in the caption? Counsel answered that the only requirement of the statute was to recognize the board as a separate entity. If service at a member’s home address is sufficient, it allows petitioners to ignore the Board’s separate existence.   Justice Burke asked whether counsel was saying the members didn’t know this was an Electoral Board case. Counsel responded that there’s a difference between notice that a lawsuit has been filed, and notice that that party is a defendant. Justice Theis asked whether the individual members of the Board appeared below, and counsel answered that they had not in the trial court, but had in the Appellate Court. Justice Theis asked who counsel represented, and counsel answered the Board and the individual members. Counsel said he wasn’t arguing that the caption of the case had to be a certain way. Justice Thomas said regarding the issue of the Board’s decision not being attached, and the petitions not numbered – did the Appellate Court address that issue? Counsel said no. Justice Thomas asked whether there is enough in the record for the Court to grant relief on that basis. Counsel argued that either issue – the failure to attach the decision (an argument the Appellate Court rejected) or the pagination issue – was an alternative grounds for affirmance. As for attaching the decision, counsel argued that it’s elementary that a complaint based on an instrument must attach that instrument. Justice Thomas asked whether the Court should allow opposing counsel to disagree with him on rebuttal. Counsel answered that he hadn’t researched the issue of failing to file a reply brief, but that was one way the Court could go. Ultimately, the case was delaying the issuance of needed school bonds, and the appellant made no attempt to expedite the case. Counsel argued that the Court should decline to apply the recurring issue of public concern doctrine and instead dismiss on grounds of mootness. Justice Thomas asked if the Court disagreed on the issues counsel has argued, what happens next. Counsel responded that the defendant should be permitted to move to dismiss for mootness at the trial court, and the motion should be granted. A petition for a referendum is valid for no other election, so there is no relief available here. Counsel concluded by arguing that the Election Code includes a mandatory requirement that petitions be numbered consecutively, and the plaintiff’s failure to do so invalidated her petition.

On rebuttal, counsel for the plaintiff argued that after the trial court, the only option available to the plaintiff was appeal. Plaintiff did appeal, and the election date passed. The plaintiff shouldn’t be penalized because the election date passed while she was exercising her rights – the mootness doctrine wasn’t designed to work that way. Justice Thomas asked if counsel had the option of moving to expedite the proceedings. Counsel answered that the defendant made a motion to expedite, and the plaintiff stipulated to it. Justice Thomas asked why the plaintiff failure to attach the decision of the Board shouldn’t be dispositive. Counsel answered that the Board had only one function – to prepare the record and give it to the trial court. Justice Thomas asked whether there was a written decision that could have been attached to the petition. Counsel once again argued that the Electoral Board is not a corporate entity – its only responsibility is to prepare the record, and the Board doesn’t have to appear or file an answer. With respect to numbering the pages of the petitions, there are cases from the Fourth and First District holding that the requirement is directory, not mandatory. Justice Theis asked whether there were decisions from the Supreme Court so holding, and counsel said only the Appellate Court. As for opposing counsel’s statement that the Board had an address, the plaintiff served every conceivable actor involved. Chief Justice Garman asked counsel what effect the passing of the election had on his case. Counsel answered that the trial court could open the way to issuing the bonds if the plaintiff lost, and if the plaintiff won, the court could return matters to square one.

We expect Bettis to be decided in four to five months.

Image courtesy of Flickr by Kristin_a (no changes).