Orland Park Board OKs No Confidence Vote On Kim Foxx

ORLAND PARK, IL — The Orland Park Village Board unanimously voted Monday to file a vote of no confidence in Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx and later called for her resignation.

While Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau announced the resolution at Monday night's board meeting, the Republican hopeful for the new 6th Congressional District cited rising homicides and decreasing convictions related to violent crimes.

According to a spokeswoman for the village, the board decided Foxx's resignation was needed "for the sake of restoration of the public’s confidence in the criminal justice system." Orland Park is calling on other village boards to denounce Foxx as well.

As part of the resolution, Pekau cited a Chicago Tribune study which found Foxx's office dropped all charges against 29.9 percent of accused felons during her first three years in office. He also stated that gun-related killings reached an all-time high in Cook County during 2021, a 121 increase from 2020.

“This is not simply a matter of opinion,” Pekau said in a written statement. “It is a matter of life and death. Every day, as a direct result of the State’s Attorney’s actions and policies, criminals who should be incarcerated are set free and are committing crimes that could have been prevented.”

A representative from the Cook County State's Attorney's office had not responded to Patch's request for comment as of Tuesday afternoon.

Pekau said that while the Orland Park police work to keep the south suburb's crime rate low, he worries crime will spill over into Cook County as a result of what he said were Foxx's lack of harsher sentences.

Trustee Cynthia Nelson Katsenes said at the meeting she was glad to respond to the "out of control" crime.

"It’s a shame when the criminals seem to have more rights than the victims."