Nearly three months after Caseyville Police Chief Jose Alvarez was terminated during a meeting that his attorney called “beyond theater of the absurd,” a judge gave Alvarez a glimmer of hope that he may one day regain his job.

Caseyville Police Chief Jose Alvarez addresses the Village Board on March 19, 2014 / Photo by Roger Starkey

Wednesday, Judge Stephen McGlynn ruled that the Mayor nor Village Board can hire a permanent replacement for Alvarez until McGlynn can conduct hearings to determine if Rick Casey Jr. should have recused himself from voting on Alvarez’s termination  on May 21 and if the meeting in which Alvarez was terminated met the qualifications for a hearing, if a hearing was even legally required.

The emergency meeting before McGlynn Wednesday morning was granted after the agenda for the Wednesday evening Caseyville Village Board meeting was posted, which included an item for the appointment of Frank Moore as police chief.

Just as he had on May 21, Bob Jones, Alvarez’s attorney, argued that Rick Casey Jr. should recuse himself. Wednesday, Jones gave oral arguments about the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint filed against Casey when he was supervisor of highway maintenance for St. Clair County.

Alvarez, as the St. Clair County affirmative action officer, interviewed 32 witnesses and determined that the complaints of racial discrimination against Casey were founded, Jones said. Following the investigation, Casey was demoted.

The evidence presented Wednesday, McGlynn said, was enough to make him believe there were legal due process concerns with Casey not recusing himself, but he would not make such a determination without more evidence. A temporary restraining order hearing, such as the one Wednesday, was also the incorrect venue for such a hearing, McGlynn said.

One standard for a person in a public body to recuse himself or herself from a vote, McGlynn said, is financial ties. Public records show that Casey made $66,138.73 as the supervisor of highway maintenance in 2012 and $44,664.78 working in the St. Clair County maintenance building in 2013. Court records show that Casey filed for bankruptcy in November 2013, and had a home foreclosed on in April 2014. There are no records to indicate the bankruptcy or foreclosure were directly related to the investigation.

Further complicating the hearing Wednesday, was current Village Attorney Mike Gras’ argument that Alvarez was not entitled to a hearing. Jones had argued that the meeting on May 21 was not a hearing and, therefore, Alvarez was not afforded due process. A police chief appointed from within the ranks is entitled to a hearing at termination, but one appointed from outside the department is not, Gras argued.

McGlynn said more time was needed research the various statutes and asked the attorneys to provide case law to bolster their arguments. The need for a termination hearing will also be discussed at a future hearing before McGlynn, he said.

While the hearings play out, another issue to consider, McGlynn said, was the authority he has to return Alvarez to his current position. If Alvarez’s only redress is financial, McGlynn will not stop Caseyville from moving forward in its search for a permanent chief of police.

No date has been set for a hearing on the Casey recusal or the need for, or validity of, the termination hearing on May 21. A hearing in the temporary restraining order case is scheduled for Friday, in which Jones has asked the Village to provide meeting minutes, video and audio recordings of the May 21 closed session.

The case is still not resolved as Alvarez and Jones seek temporary restraining orders against his termination or permanent replacement and the Village attorneys file motions indicating that Alvarez’s termination makes the restraining order moot and, therefore, they are not legally obligated to provide the closed session meeting minutes.

Caseyville Mayor Leonard Black attempted to have Alvarez fired four times before his termination on May 21. See related: http://metroindependent.com/2014/05/21/caseyville-mayor-gets-his-wish-on-fifth-attempt-police-chief-fired/6458/