Tagged: Illinois pensions

Mo. Supreme Court to hear arguments in public defender case

A case that could decide how Missouri public defenders deal with case overload will be heard by the state's Supreme Court today. In July 2010 the public defender office in Christian County announced it had reached its case threshold and could take no more cases. The next month a judge assigned an indigent defendant to that office anyway and the public defender system filed suit.

St. Louis University law professor Susan McGraugh says the high court's decision could have a big impact.

Dooley admits "missteps"

St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley admits that he made missteps over the last few months as Missouri's largest county tried to deal with an unprecedented budget shortfall. Dooley told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he made what he called clumsy mistakes, saying the recession is "new territory" for the county.

Reporting from Illinois Public Radio's Sean Crawford used in this report.

Rod Blagojevich has forfeited all his state pension benefits. That's the opinion of Illinois' Attorney General.

The legal opinion likely means Blagojevich won't begin getting checks when he turns 55 this weekend.  The board overseeing the General Assembly Retirement System moved earlier this year to block the payments.