CHICAGO - Cook County can't use more than $240 million a year that should be designated for road projects and other transportation needs to pay bills in the sheriff's office and other county departments, a Cook County judge has ruled.
On Jan. 29, Cook County Circuit Judge Alison Conlon sided with a coalition of organizations representing road builders and contractors in Illinois, signaling another landmark point in the nearly eight-year-old court fight over how to spend the annually big pot of money.
"This is a victory for every resident and business in Cook County," said John Healy, board chairman of the Illinois Road and Transportation Builders Association, in a statement released following the ruling. "The county now must allocate needed resources to address urgent transportation infrastructure needs throughout Cook County."
In the decision, Conlon specifically found Cook County's government had steered hundreds of millions of dollars in 2023, at least, to cover county spending bills, rather than towards "direct" programs and projects to meet the county's mountain of transportation needs, as required by the Illinois state constitution's so-called Safe Roads Amendment.
The 103-page ruling followed a four-day trial before Judge Conlon in early August 2025.
Conlon had presided over the trial nearly two years after an Illinois appeals court had overturned her original decision to toss the road builders' lawsuit, essentially greenlighting the county's spending decisions at the time.
However, with the appellate decision to guide the proceedings this time, Conlon said the county's spending decisions and its justifications for diverting the money to the other departments and offices didn't actually comply with the state constitution.
"Borrowing from the Appellate Court's analogy, this Court 'look[ed] under the hood' at trial," Conlon said in her ruling. "While some components of the car may be operational, the Court found certain mechanical defects which prevent the car from running."
The case had first landed in court in 2018, when several associations of construction contractors sued Cook County in circuit court.
They specifically claimed the county's spending decisions had violated the 2016 Safe Roads Amendment. That amendment to the Illinois state constitution, which was approved by overwhelming numbers of voters, mandates that revenue collected from fees and taxes related to transportation must be spent on purposes related to transportation – essentially placing that money in a transportation “lockbox,” walled off from politicians who would otherwise use the money for other purposes.
However, in the years since, Cook County has continued to plow nearly $250 million in transportation funding into operations funded by the county’s Public Safety Fund.
Cook County argued that spending is allowed, even under the Safe Roads Amendment, because the county is considered a unit of local home rule government in Illinois, which are granted special taxing powers under the Illinois state constitution.
The county has used the funds to help pay for spending at the Cook County Sheriff’s Office and other county offices that work within the criminal justice system, arguing those offices are tasked with maintaining order and safety on the county's highways and other roads.
The coalition of plaintiffs, however, said that interpretation of the amendment would be too loose.
Plaintiffs in the action include the Illinois Road and Transportation Builders Association; the Federation of Women Contractors; the Illinois Association of Aggregate Producers; Associated General Contractors of Illinois; Illinois Asphalt Pavement Association; Illinois Ready Mixed Concrete Association; Great Lakes Construction Association; American Council of Engineering Companies Illinois Chapter; Chicagoland Associated General Contractors; Underground Contractors Association of Illinois; and Illinois Concrete Pipe Association.
Initially, their legal action failed to gain traction, as Judge Conlon and a state appeals panel sided with the county.
However, in 2022, the Illinois Supreme Court sided with the road builders on the question of whether the county's home rule powers should exempt it from complying with the Safe Roads Amendment's requirements.
The case was sent back to Conlon, who again sided with the county, by ruling the road builders couldn't challenge the county's budgets dating from 2016-2023.
But on appeal, the road builders scored a big win, as a state appeals panel this time ruled the county needed to prove the money it was funneling to its public safety departments and offices was actually allowed as "indirect" transportation spending under the Safe Roads Amendment.
In her new ruling, Conlon said the county could not do so, at least for its spending in fiscal year 2023.
She noted the county presented an opinion from a consultant, identified as MGT Impact Solutions, asserting the county should be allowed to dedicate at least $177 million per year to 12 public safety and court-related agencies.
These other agencies and departments included the Cook County Sheriff's Office, the Community Corrections Department, Department of Corrections, State's Attorney's Office, Public Defender's Office, Adult Probation Department, the Cook County Judiciary Department, the Office of the Chief Judge, the Social Service Department, Juvenile Probation Department, the Cook County Circuit Clerk's office, and the Juvenile Temporary Detention Center.
In a report and later testimony, MGT representatives conceded none of those departments had programs or projects "in which 100% of the program expenses were eligible under the Safe Roads Amendment."
But they still claimed a majority of the $243 million spent in 2023 should be considered eligible under the Safe Roads Amendment.
Conlon, however, rejected MGT's report and testimony, finding MGT's and the county's calculations were flawed. She noted they too often relied on estimates, rather than actual spending numbers, because they could not demonstrate how much of those agencies spending was actually dedicated to true and verifiable transportation needs, as required by the amendment.
While siding with the road builders on the question of whether the county had misspent the money in 2023, Conlon declined to issue a permanent injunction to prevent the county from attempting to detour the money in the future.
Conlon said the county had done enough in its 2024 and 2025 budgets to demonstrate "reasonable" attempts to comply with the Safe Roads Amendment moving forward.
The road builders have been represented in the court fight by attorney John Fitzgerald and others with the firm of Tabet DiVito & Rothstein, of Chicago.
It is not yet known if the county will attempt to appeal yet again.
In a statement following the verdict, the IRBTA said: "For the past five years, Cook County has continued to spend transportation revenues in violation of the Illinois Constitution. The Court's well-reasoned decision should put an end to that."
IRTBA President & CEO Mike Sturino said his organization is looking "forward to working with Cook County to ensure compliance with the County's constitutional obligations while avoiding disruptions to the County's public services."
Fitzgerald added: "The Circuit Court of Cook County has stated in no uncertain terms that the County must live up to its obligations arising under the Illinois Constitution."
In a statement published by the Chicago Tribune, a spokesperson for Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said: “The county remains committed to Safe Roads Amendment compliance and utilizing the Transportation Fund to address all expenses allowable under the amendment."
Preckwinkle and the County Board of Commissioners oversee Cook County's budget.
Preckwinkle is running for reelection in 2026, and is challenged in the Democratic Party primary by Chicago Alderman Brendan Reilly.
