The Berrien County Board of Commissioners has appointed former Judge John Dewane as a special counsel to look into disclosure and conflict of interest issues surrounding commissioners following a recent investigation into Commissioner Teri Freehling. On Wednesday, the Berrien County Prosecutor’s office announced there would be no charges filed out of an investigation regarding Freehling’s late husband renting out equipment to a contractor working on county drain projects. However, on Thursday Board of Commissioners Chair Mac Elliot told WSJM News the former circuit judge will examine the board’s bylaws to see if their disclosure rules should be fortified.
“To make sure that we have don’t a situation where someone has a obligation under the bylaws to report in a certain manner and doesn’t meet that obligation fully,” Elliot said.
Elliot said it’s about making sure there is no impression of impropriety.
“I would imagine we would also want to ensure that if something comes up that a board member needs to know about that they’re informed of it in a timely manner so that if they need to make a supplemental disclosure, then they would have an opportunity to do so.”
Elliot said the goal is for the judge to report back to the commission in three weeks, if possible. In the meantime, Commissioner Freehling has not attended board of commissioners meetings for the past few weeks. Elliot said he asked her to step back until the situation is resolved in order to avoid distractions. He said she could be back at next Thursday’s meeting.
