Fox Lake pension board begins mulling benefits for Gliniewicz family

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Fox Lake pension board begins mulling benefits for Gliniewicz family

The funeral of Fox Lake police Lt. Charles Joseph Gliniewicz, 52, on Sept. 7, 2015, included an 18-mile procession through Antioch, his hometown, and Fox Lake, the community he served.

As Lake County authorities continue investigating the shooting death of Fox Lake police Lt. Charles Joseph Gliniewicz, the village has begun the process of determining the pension benefits his widow will receive.

The agenda for a special meeting of Fox Lake's Police Pension Board on Wednesday, later postponed, called for discussion and potential action on the "survivor pension application of Officer Gliniewicz's widow."

"As soon as all necessary paperwork is complete and the pension board attorney returns from out of town, the special board meeting will be rescheduled," read a notice posted at Village Hall on Wednesday morning.

Gliniewicz, 52, was found fatally shot near U.S. 12 in Fox Lake on Sept. 1, shortly after radioing that he had spotted suspicious activity and was pursuing three people — described as two white males and one black male — on foot.

Laura Goodloe, attorney for Fox Lake's Police Pension Board, said she had directed the board to have Gliniewicz's wife file a formal application for pension benefits. Gliniewicz's age and 30 years of service mean he was eligible for retirement, and his wife is entitled to receive his pension, but the question for the board is whether she is entitled to receive the larger benefits provided to surviving spouses of officers killed in the line of duty, Goodloe said.

Under Illinois law, the surviving spouse of an officer who dies in the line of duty is entitled to a pension equal to 100 percent of the officer's salary at the time of death. The spouse of an officer who dies but not in the line of duty is entitled to the usual, smaller pension benefits, which Charles Atwell, an Aurora attorney who represents Illinois police and firefighter pension boards, said begin at 50 percent of a retirement-eligible officer's salary but increase to a maximum of 75 percent depending on the officer's years of service.

The Fox Lake pension board is deciding whether to pay benefits to the family of slain officer Joe Gliniewicz. The pension board must decide what benefits the family will receive. Sept. 25, 2015. (WGN-TV)

A pension board trying to determine whether a death occurred in the line of duty would typically hold a hearing to consider any available evidence, which could include witness testimony, Atwell said.

The evidence required depends on the case, Goodloe said, but often includes a death certificate or medical examiner's report, the latter a document Lake County authorities have not yet released.

That doesn't necessarily mean the pension board must wait until the investigation ends before awarding benefits, Atwell said. Some boards might choose to approve standard survivor's benefits and revisit the case to consider line-of-duty death benefits when additional evidence becomes available, he said.

Detective Christopher Covelli of the Lake County sheriff's office said Thursday that authorities continue to investigate Gliniewicz's death as a homicide but have not yet determined the manner of the officer's death.

Previously, Lake County Coroner Dr. Thomas Rudd said he couldn't determine the manner of death, whether homicide, suicide, accidental or undetermined, without additional information from police.

Generally, a ruling of suicide, for example, would significantly diminish the benefits available to an officer's survivors, compared to a death in the line of duty, said Richard Reimer, a Hinsdale attorney who specializes in pension law and a former police officer.

In addition to the larger survivor's benefit, the spouses and children of police and firefighters killed in the line of duty in Illinois are also eligible for free health insurance, and their children are entitled to free tuition at state-supported colleges, Reimer noted. Also, the state and federal government give lump-sum benefits worth several hundred thousand dollars to the survivors of officers killed in the line of duty, he said.

Atwell said that in general officers who take their own lives would likely not be considered to have died in the line of duty, but he said it's "not cut and dried" and could depend on the circumstances.

The pension board has full discretion to determine what constitutes line of duty and what benefits are appropriate, said Goodloe.

"The board is ultimately the finder of fact, and they have to base it on the evidence before them," she said.

Under Illinois law, each pension board consists of two police officers, one retired police officer and two mayoral appointees.

"The intent is that police officers would control their fund, which is why you have three active and retired officers and two municipal appointees. That said, they are fiduciaries; they wear the hat of a pension fund trustee, and they are to review the evidence as it is, unbiased and impartial," Atwell said.

Lauren Zumbach is a News-Sun reporter. Dan Hinkel is a Chicago Tribune reporter.