Trial begins for Will County Board member Jacquie Traynere, charged with computer tampering

Special prosecutor William Elward argued Tuesday that Will County Board member Jacqueline Traynere intentionally accessed a rival board member’s email to gain a political advantage.

Traynere’s attorneys Colin “CJ” Haney and Jeff Tomczak countered that Traynere was sounding the alarm to expose an internal security problem because every County Board member was issued the same generic email password.

Traynere, a Bolingbrook Democrat, has been charged with three counts of computer tampering, a misdemeanor, stemming from a March 2024 incident when she accessed the emails of then board Chair Judy Ogalla, a Monee Republican.

Traynere waived the right to a jury trial, and a bench trial began Tuesday afternoon before Will County Judge Derek Ewanic. The trial was continued to Thursday morning.

Traynere, a board member since 2008, has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Elward argued Traynere is Ogalla’s “political opponent” and had a very different viewpoint from her on a county proposed road widening project in Homer Glen that had become very heated.

Traynere opened Ogalla’s email without her knowledge and consent in the morning of March 6, 2024. Later that afternoon, she forwarded an email Ogalla received from County Board member Steve Balich, a Homer Glen Republican, to both County Executive Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant and herself, Elward said.

It was not an innocent mistake, Elward said.

Haney said all board members were given the same generic password when they were issued new laptops.

When Traynere tested the theory, she confirmed a security vulnerability, Haney said.

“She sounded the alarm,” he said. “This was an act of vigilance.”

Haney said Traynere let others, including the information technology director, Bertino-Tarrant and Ogalla, know of the security flaw, which she wouldn’t have done if she was trying to sneak into an opponent’s email account.

“These are not the actions of a criminal,” Haney said.

Traynere contacted the IT department within one or two minutes upon realizing she could get into another person’s account, her attorneys said.

When she went back to her computer in the afternoon, she hadn’t realized she was still logged into Ogalla’s account and began housekeeping measures such as deleting emails, Haney said.

Ogalla testified Tuesday that she didn’t realize that an email from Balich was forwarded to the county executive until Bertino-Tarrant replied “Thanks for sharing.”

Ogalla said she was surprised because she hadn’t shared the email, and it was the first time she saw Balich’s message. Ogalla notified the county’s information technology department that someone had gained access to her email account. She also checked her sent mail and deleted mail folders to see if the original email from Balich could be found.

Elward asked Ogalla if this is a message that she would have normally forwarded to the county executive, and she replied she would not have shared the information contained in the email.

Ogalla testified she did not give Traynere permission to access her account.

“I was upset,” Ogalla said.

Ogalla said when board members moved from paper documents to iPads, they were all issued the same password. She said she cautioned the IT department to change the passwords for all members when they were issued laptops and board members didn’t have the capability to change their own passwords without the help of the IT department.

The IT department determined that an IP address originating in Bolingbrook was used to access Ogalla’s account. Ogalla said she did not order an independent investigation of email breaches.

“I didn’t think of asking for that,” she said.

Elward questioned that if Traynere had an innocent explanation for accessing Ogalla’s account, then why did she delete emails.

County Board member Mark Revis, a Plainfield Republican, said he had a conversation with Traynere a few days after the email breach and said Traynere “was curious to see if all the passwords for county board members were the same.”

Bertino-Tarrant, a Democrat, said she believed when Traynere told her about the email passwords, she was trying to alert county officials there was a security issue.

County Board members had the same passwords since they were first issued iPads in 2012 and 2013, said Jason Donisch, the director of the county’s Information, Communication and Technology Department.

He said it was not a good practice, but other staff members in the county requested it be that way. County staff would be able to help board members with their emails or calendar appointments, he testified.

Donisch said the department had a plan to change passwords when the incident occurred. Balich asked him to check to see if his email had been compromised and Donisch researched every county board member’s emails for 30 days, which is what the system allowed.

“After (Traynere) raised the alarm, everybody has a safe email,” Tomczak said.

Elward replied that Traynere violated another person’s email and got caught.

Traynere is running in the Democratic primary March 17 with running mate Barbara Ann Parker. Democrats Tyler Giacalone and Sheldon L. Watts are running together, and voters will select two of the four candidates to run against Republican Steven Smith in November.

Michelle Mullins is a freelance reporter.