Clark County Approves Highway Pay Change Pending Union Approval

Clark County Board | August 21, 2026

Article Summary: After a closed session lasting from 9:12 a.m. to 10:19 a.m., the Clark County Board on Friday, Aug. 21, 2026, voted unanimously among members present to approve a modification of highway employee compensation, contingent on union approval. The terms of the modification are not recorded in the minutes.

Highway Employee Compensation Key Points:

The board approved the modification of highway employees’ compensation pending union approval, on a motion by Todd Kuhn seconded by Randal Stephens.

The vote came in open session immediately after a closed session that included collective negotiating matters under 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(2).

The closed session ran from 9:12 a.m. to 10:19 a.m. and also covered real property and specific-employee matters.

The minutes do not state the terms of the modification, the number of employees affected, or the name of the union.

CLARK COUNTY — The Clark County Board on Friday, Aug. 21, 2026, approved a modification of highway employee compensation pending union approval, taking the vote in open session minutes after returning from a closed session that included collective negotiating matters.

Board Member Todd Kuhn moved to approve the modification of the highway employees’ compensation pending union approval, and Board Member Randal Stephens seconded. The chairman put the question and, upon the roll being taken, all members present voted “aye,” whereupon Chairman Rex Goble declared the motion adopted.

The minutes record nothing about what the modification contains. There is no wage figure, no percentage, no effective date, no term, no job classifications and no count of affected employees. The record does not say when or how union ratification would occur, or what happens if it does not.

Closed Session Covered Three Topics

Board Member Susan Guinnip moved to go into executive session at 9:12 a.m., seconded by Stephens, and all members present voted “aye.” The board cited three provisions: 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(5), regarding the purchase or lease of property for the public body; 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(2), regarding collective negotiating matters between the public body and its employees or representatives; and 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(1), regarding the appointment, employment, compensation, discipline and performance of specific employees. All three had been noticed on the posted agenda.

The minutes carry a closed meeting certification signed by Goble as presiding officer, certifying that to the best of his knowledge no topic was discussed in the closed portion in violation of the Illinois Open Meetings Act. The session ended at 10:19 a.m., and the board returned to regular session.

No formal action can be taken in closed session under Illinois law. The compensation vote was the first item of business after the board reconvened, and it is the only recorded action that corresponds to any of the three stated closed-session topics. The minutes do not state what, if anything, was decided about the purchase or lease of real property, and no property item appears elsewhere in the proceedings.

The union is not named in the minutes. Jerry Woodfall, identified in the attendance record as representing IBEW 725, was present at the meeting; the record does not connect him, or IBEW 725, to the highway compensation item or to the closed session, and this report does not do so either.

The compensation vote came shortly after County Engineer Dallas Richardson’s highway report, which covered the Hogue Town material letting, the Clarksville Road HSIP application, the Casey 450th Street box culvert, the Moonshine Solar Farm Road Improvement project and an OSHA inspection involving lockout/tagout documentation. The board adjourned at 10:35 a.m. until Sept. 17, 2026, for budget hearings.