Kankakee Times

Sen. Jason Barickman (R-Bloomington) recently issued a statement following the selection of Judge Michael P. McCuskey for Legislative Inspector General.

The process of selecting a new LIG has not been without controversy. KFVS12 reports that Senate Republicans are unhappy that the selection happened so quickly.

"People should be able to have confidence in their government, but for years Illinoisans have been given very little reason to," Barickman said in a statement. "The selection of a new LIG, who serves as the ethics watchdog for the legislature, was an opportunity to show the public that times have changed for the better. Instead, the super majority party ignored the established process and any semblance of transparency, making it clear that they are more focused on business as usual."

Judge Michael McCuskey officially retired from the 10th Judicial District in October 2020, after 32 years as a judge. In 1990, he was elected to the state's Third District Appellate Court, and at 42, he was the youngest on the panel. Eight years later, he was appointed by President Bill Clinton to the U.S. District Court of the Central District of Illinois, where he served as chief judge from 2005-2013 while presiding in Champaign. He retired from that position in 2014, according to the Journal Star.

Barickman wasn't the only lawmaker to oppose the process.

“Obviously, he’s a very good judge,” state Sen. Jil Tracy (R-Quincy) said. “And he’s a very fine reader of statutory authority. But, should we just say, OK, yeah, let’s just hire you and ignore the process?’ Why do we have a process? We showed how failed we were in the process that wasn’t in place before 2017.”

The resolution nominating McCuskey to be the Legislative Inspector General was filed on Feb. 16, and it was passed by the Senate on Feb. 17.