*This story has been updated with a correction that notes Ferrell’s conviction was in 2010, not 2020.
By Madhu Mayer
Believing he has paid his debt to society; Karl Ferrell is vowing to fight for his trustee position on the Joliet Township Board.
In June, Ferrell was removed from his position as trustee by the Will County States Attorney because he had multiple past felony convictions, which according to the states statute prohibits convicted felons from serving as an elected official. Since then, he is appealing the decision with the state Appellate Court and while he awaits, for the September hearing he remains trustee. Additionally, he has filed a petition for clemency, pardon, or restoration of rights, which will be heard by the Prisoner Review Board in October. According to Ferrell a specific date for the hearing has not been set.
Ferrell said he never had an interest in entering the political arena until he caught the attention of local politicians.
“In 2020, I became more of a community organizer,” said Ferrell., who became active with the Joliet chapter of Black Lives Matter movement. “The township slate asked me to run with them.”
When he filled out the necessary election paperwork, Ferrell claims he was never asked about his prior convictions or criminal history.
“Nothing was challenged, we campaigned, and we won,” he said. Ferrell was elected township trustee in April 2021.
Ferrell alleges he was removed from his office as retaliation by the Will County State’s Attorney’s Office after he protested disparities between the Black and white communities in bail for crimes. Ferrell also protested when the state’s attorney’s office did not charge Joliet police in the death of an African American man while in police custody. Attempts to reach the state’s attorney’s office for comment were unsuccessful.
Ferrell is challenging state laws that prohibit individuals with felony convictions from running for township offices, but not for state or municipal positions. “There are individuals who hold political offices in Markham, Niles and Champaign who have prior felony convictions,” he said.
A call to the State Board of Elections was directed to a section of the Illinois Municipal Code, which states, “A person is not eligible to hold any office, if that person, at the time required for taking the oath of office, has been convicted in any court in the U.S. for any infamous crime, bribery, perjury or other felony.”
Ferrell, who disclosed that his last conviction was in February 2010 for unlawful possession of a weapon and drugs, said he has paid his dues to society.
“I am a full productive citizen and full member of society,” he said. “I am a business owner, union member and community organizer.”
According to Ferrell, his fellow trustees support his legal battle.
“They support me, and they see my fight and passion,” he said. “I can run for state representative or governor, as this is a specific township statute. I reached a lot of receptive people, and they believe the governor will see this in my favor.”
Fellow Joliet Township trustee Suzanna Ibarra said Ferrell is the perfect example of a person who has made the most of his second chance in life.
“His troubles were 10 years ago, and he has been a model citizen and never been arrested since then,” said Ibarra. “Prisons and jails are meant to rehabilitate people and he has turned his life around.
“We represent everyone in Joliet Township and there is not a better example of a person who came from hard times and turned his life around like Karl,” Ibarra continued.
Ferrell, the only African American trustee on the board, said in the process of fighting for his township seat, he discovered many inequities in the state.
“Someone with a felony conviction could vote in Illinois, but not the right to bear arms or be an executor of a will,” he said. “That is why I am going to fight.”
Madhu Mayer, Reporter – mm@thetimesweekly.com
