Ex-Mayor Bob O'Dekirk Loses His Lawsuit One More Time Against His Political Enemies In Joliet

JOLIET, IL — Former two-term Joliet Mayor Bob O'Dekirk has suffered yet another legal defeat, this time at the hands of Kankakee County Judge Lindsay Parkhurst, who was appointed last September to take over O'Dekirk's lawsuit because Will County Judge Brian Barrett realized a potential conflict of interest.

On Wednesday, the judge who took over the former Joliet mayor's civil lawsuit against several of his long-time political enemies around Joliet dismissed O'Dekirk's lawsuit in its entirety. A daily newspaper in Kankakee, The Kankakee Daily Journal, first reported the story.

The City of Joliet announced issued a press release on Thursday pointing out that the Circuit Court of Kankakee County has dismissed with prejudice all remaining state‑law claims in a lawsuit filed by former Mayor Robert O’Dekirk. This follows the February 18, 2025 decision by the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, which dismissed all federal claims with prejudice and relinquished jurisdiction over the state‑law claims, the city of Joliet announced.

In the state ruling, the court concluded the claims were time‑barred under applicable Illinois statutes of limitations and that no tolling provisions applied to revive them; it also found certain allegations insufficiently pled under Sections 2‑615 and 2‑619 of the Illinois Code of Civil Procedure.

The City of Joliet was represented by David Mathues of Hervas, Condon & Bersani, P.C.

“The City believes this is the correct ruling,” said Todd C. Lenzie, Interim Corporation Counsel, City of Joliet. “The former mayor’s legal claims have always been without merit, and in light of this dismissal of all remaining claims, the City of Joliet intends to pursue all of its rights and remedies on behalf of its residents.”

Last February, Joliet Patch reported that despite having his federal lawsuit against former Joliet police chief Al Roechner, former deputy chief Marc Reid, former Joliet Councilman Jim McFarland and a host of others dismissed by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Cummings, O'Dekirk was not ready to throw in the towel and give up the battle.

"Judge Cummings' dismissal of all of the federal claims today is a huge win for all of the Defendants," Plainfield lawyer John Schrock told Joliet Patch's editor at the time. The Law Offices of John Schrock represented McFarland in the former mayor's lawsuit.

"This ruling prevents the former Mayor from tying up all of the defendants with expensive and prolonged litigation," Schrock explained last year. "Judge Cummings ruled that the issues raised by the former Mayor should be determined by the voters at the ballot box and not by a judge in federal court. Judge Cummings dismissed the former Mayor's state law claims without prejudice, which means that those state law claims, such as intentional infliction of emotional distress, can be refiled in state court."

Following his setback in Chicago's U.S. District Court 11 months ago, O'Dekirk said he planned to refile his case in state court, and he did, re-filing his case at the Will County Courthouse the following month.

In July 2023, more than three months after losing his bid for a third term in office, O'Dekirk retained a Palos Heights law firm to file a federal RICO lawsuit against former chief Roechner, Roechner's wife, Nancy, current Elwood Police Commander Marc Reid and a host of others including Shaw Media, the newspaper company that publishes The Herald-News in Joliet.

The federal lawsuit also named former Joliet Herald-News editor Joseph Hosey, who now covers the East Coast for Patch, plus long-time Joliet City Councilman Pat Mudron and former City Councilman Jim McFarland as defendants. Shaw Media was later dropped as a defendant in the case.

The lawsuit asserted all the defendants acted as an enterprise "to further deliberate illegal conduct against O'Dekirk.

"The thrust of the Complaint is that defendants schemed to 'create a public political backlash against O’Dekirk with the goal of him losing his position as mayor of Joliet and being charged criminally," federal judge Cummings wrote in last year's ruling dismissing O'Dekirk's federal lawsuit. "As distasteful as this may be, plaintiffs do not allege that defendants’ scheme extended beyond that to an effort to destroy O’Dekirk’s law practice. Consequently, the Court will dismiss plaintiffs’ Section 1983 and RICO claims with prejudice."

The following Kankakee County online court records list all the key people involved in O'Dekirk's lawsuit:

Plaintiff: O'Dekirk, Robert
Lead Attorney: Michael, Alexander
Plaintiff: Marie, Rebecca, O'Dekirk's wife
Lead Attorney: Michael, Alexander
Plaintiff: Palacios, Mason, their child
Lead Attorney: Michael, Alexander

Defendant: Roechner, Al
Lead Attorney: Jacobson, Ryan Brandon
Defendant: Reid, Marc
Lead Attorney: Ferrell, Michael Scott
Defendant: McFarland, Jim
Lead Attorney: Schrock, John Vernon
Defendant: Hosey, Joseph
Lead Attorney: Harris, Natalie Anne
Defendant: Roechner, Nancy
Lead Attorney: Jacobson, Ryan Brandon
Defendant: City of Joliet
Lead Attorney: Mathues, G. David
Defendant: Mudron, Pat
Lead Attorney: Ferrell, Michael Scott