East Central Reporter

Shelby County's justice system is under scrutiny following a controversial legal case involving unpaid invoices. The county faced a lawsuit from Ed Flynn over these invoices, resulting in a Rule 23 ruling mandating payment. Such rulings do not establish case law and are not subject to Supreme Court appeals.

Chad Miller, who was the court-appointed attorney for Shelby County during the lawsuit, is now serving as a judge. It has come to light that Miller spent nearly $225,000 on private attorneys despite lacking legal authority to do so at that time. This spending occurred before legislative changes permitted such actions by a State’s Attorney.

A letter from Miller claimed that Shelby County had confessed to Flynn's petition, yet no county board discussions or votes corroborated this confession. One board member even pursued legal action independently, contesting any agreement with Flynn’s claims. In his correspondence, Miller asserted that both Flynn and the county shared mutual interests—a rare situation where plaintiff and defendant allegedly aligned.

Questions have arisen about whether it is appropriate for a defense attorney to align with the opposing party. "Kroncke stated the County’s appointed counsel, Jasper County State’s Attorney Chad Miller, had aligned with Flynn and worked on the County’s behalf to get Mr. Flynn paid," according to closed session minutes.

The court noted: “The uncontroverted evidence in the record is that Ms. Vonderheide, as state’s attorney for the County, appointed Mr. Flynn to provide legal services in connection with labor negotiations on behalf of the County since 2014.” However, affidavits were contested as false because there was no documented appointment by Vonderheide.

The system's failure stems from an unchallenged affidavit and missing crucial evidence records which indicated improper hiring practices by the county board rather than through formal appointments by Vonderheide.

Concerns persist regarding Kroncke's statements during closed sessions: "Kroncke also explained that former Labor Relations Attorney Ed Flynn would be 'hired' as a special assistant solely for finishing the contract." This decision comes despite issues identified by a forensic auditor in contracts previously managed by Flynn.

Bill Kroncke commented publicly regarding longstanding issues in Shelby County predating his wife Nichole Kronke's tenure: “As far as problems go in Shelby County, they were here LONG before my wife took office.”