Dolton mayor Tiffany Henyard found in contempt of court after allegedly stonewalling liquor licenses
Tiffany Henyard, the scandal-plagued mayor of Dolton, Illinois, has reportedly been found in contempt of court after allegedly stonewalling liquor licenses for months.
The owners of St. Patrick’s, a three-story restaurant and banquet hall on Lincoln Avenue, sued in August, claiming the mayor had repeatedly promised to sign the liquor licenses, which were already approved by the village board of trustees, but did not.
In court on Wednesday, Henyard, who also serves as the village liquor commissioner, reportedly vowed again that she'd sign the licenses, but she did not before a 5 p.m. Thursday deadline.
The parties were therefore forced to return to court again Friday, and Henyard arrived a half hour late for the hearing, WGN-TV reported.
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Cook County Judge Cecilia Horan held Henyard in indirect criminal contempt. That means the mayor was considered "disrespectful to the authority of the court," Adrian Vuckovich, an attorney for the owners of St. Patrick's, told WMAQ-TV.
"It’s been a challenge to put it mildly. It shouldn’t be so difficult. This is an ordinary event to get liquor licenses issued," Vuckovich told WGN separately.
"The judge asked the mayor, ‘Will you sign these licenses?’ and instead of signing them or answering the judge directly, she began talking in circles and so that’s when the judge made one determination of what’s called indirect criminal contempt," Vuckovich reportedly said, adding: "It’s serious. It’s not something anybody would want to happen, especially if you’re a public official."
Henyard was not taken into custody, but, under threat of being held in contempt again, she signed two of the three liquor licenses, meaning St. Patrick's can finally open for business.
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"This should have been over in November," Tiffany Kamara, one of St. Patrick's owners, told WMAQ.
Vuckovich said his client is pursuing the third license, as well as additional consequences for the mayor over the hold-up. "We want her to be fined. We want her to pay attorney fees, and we want damages. She has hurt my client," the attorney reportedly said. "We are wasting money every day… taxpayers' money. This is a nice building that people could be using and not to mention the jobs."
Henyard's attorney, Max Solomon, reportedly attempted to justify the delay.
"It is very important for people to understand that the documents signed today had another entity on there. That was the holdup," Solomon told WMAQ. "That was the only thing."
Fox News Digital reached out to Henyard and Solomon for comment but did not immediately hear back.
Meanwhile, former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who had been hired to investigate Henyard last summer, has concluded her probe and is expected to release her findings Monday night, FOX 32 Chicago reported.
Henyard is facing allegations including that she misused taxpayer dollars, overspent on village credit cards and fired an employee who claimed to have been sexually assaulted by a village trustee while on a work trip to Las Vegas.
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The FBI also is reportedly investigating Henyard for alleged corruption in Dolton and Thornton Township, where she currently serves as supervisor but lost the Democratic nomination to hold onto that role last month.