Suits Filed in Clay, Five Other Counties to Remove Governor's Disaster Declaration

Suits have been filed in Clay and five other Illinois counties seeking a court order lifting Governor J.B. Pritzker's disaster declaration in those counties.

Attorney Thomas DeVore said the suits state that the COVID-19 statistics in those counties don't meet the definition of a disaster.

(THOMAS DeVORE)

By phone Friday, DeVore said the case in Clay County is a new Count 5 in St. Rep. Darren Bailey's lawsuit against the governor. Bailey sought to not be regulated by Pritzker's stay at home order. In ruling in favor of Bailey, Judge Michael McHaney extended his ruling to all Illinoisans. No court date has been set for further proceedings in the Clay County case.

DeVore said Clay County has had just nine positive COVID cases and no deaths.

The lawsuits have also been filed in Edgar, Clinton, Bond, Sangamon and Richland counties.

Sangamon, home of the state capitol, might seem to be an outlier among those counties, but DeVore says that 198,000 people live in that county. 45,000 of those have been tested, with 717 positive results and 33 deaths. DeVore said the number of deaths are .017% of the total population and that most of those occurred in group settings such as nursing homes. He contends that's not a widespread situation that would support a disaster declaration.