Indicted Waukegan City Clerk Janet Kilkelly Booked at the Lake County Jail
Indicted Waukegan City Clerk Janet Kilkelly pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to more than a dozen felony charges accusing her of unlawfully issuing licensing credits to ineligible businesses in Waukegan.
Appearing in Lake County Court, Kilkelly faced 15 counts following her indictment the previous month. Neither the Clerk nor her legal team from the law firm of Kelleher and Holland offered any comments to the media following the arraignment.
Judge Patricia Fix read each indictment, which accused Kilkelly of official misconduct and misappropriation of funds in her capacity as city clerk and deputy liquor commissioner.
The charges assert that Kilkelly knowingly granted liquor and gaming license credits to four businesses, despite being aware of their ineligibility to receive such credits.
The charges leveled against Kilkelly are Class 3 felonies, which come with a maximum imprisonment term of five years each. The City Clerk is free on bond and will return to Lake County Court for a case management conference in Courtroom 510 on June 5 at 9 am.
Kilkelly has been the Waukegan City Clerk since 2017, when she was elected into office alongside former Mayor Sam Cunningham. Cunningham and Kilkelly ran together for reelection on the “One Waukegan” ticket. Cunningham lost his reelection to current Mayor Ann Taylor, while Kilkelly was re-elected.
The Kilkelly indictment comes after the City of Waukegan was served a search warrant for Kilkelly’s city-owned phone. The Clerk then said the warrant concerned former Alderman Roudell Kirkwood’s indictment for official misconduct, forgery, wire fraud, and theft. One of the businesses Kilkelly allegedly illegally gave credit to includes a business owned by Kirkwood.
Waukegan Watch News will continue to follow this story as it develops. Kilkelly is scheduled to speak to the Waukegan City Council on Monday, April 15. She has not made any statements about a possible resignation.
