Orland Park attorney David O'Connor, specifically requested by McHenry County State's Attorney Louis Bianchi to be the special prosecutor of Amy Dalby, has received contracts totaling $151,200 since 2007 from the Illinois Office of the State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor (ILSAAP).
These contracts were for designing, developing and implementing training programs for the Agency. State records show annual contracts of $25,000 for both 2007 and 2008, $35,200 in 2009, and $66,000 in 2010. For the first two years, his contracts broke down his hourly rate of $145.
Several of O'Connor's ILSAAP contracts were in effect while he was the special prosecutor of Dalby for the removal of computer files from the state's attorney's office. During this time, ILSAAP had an active, but mostly quiet, role on behalf of Bianchi. A contracted media consultant for ILSAAP began working extensively behind the scenes with Bianchi starting Oct. 1, 2007 and continued through June 2009. Per the request of the McHenry County State's Attorney, ILSAAP's Chuck Colburn intervened on a petition for a special prosecutor to investigate Bianchi prior to Dalby's indictment in March 2009.
Colburn, now representing the McHenry County Board, argued before Judge Gordon Graham last week that special prosecutors should be paid at the same hourly rate as state's attorneys -- about $91.50 per hour.
Special prosecutors of Bianchi have charged McHenry County $250 per hour, reportedly the same rate of O'Connor as special prosecutor of Dalby. Comparatively little media attention and public scrutiny were given to O'Connor's bill which totaled $65,000. O'Connor's case against Dalby never made it to trial, as all felony charges were dropped within several months of her indictment.
