Will County Board member Jacqueline Traynere, of Bolingbrook, was sentenced Tuesday to three months of court supervision and ordered to pay $514 in court fees after she was found guilty last month of two misdemeanor counts of computer tampering.
Traynere, the former Democratic Leader, was accused of logging into the email account of then-County Board Chair Judy Ogalla, a Republican, in 2024.
The court supervision is a disposition without a conviction and can be expunged down the line, Traynere’s attorney Colin “CJ” Haney said.
He said the sentencing was likely the minimum penalty the judge could set.
Traynere testified she was testing
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a rumor that all board members were given the same password when they received new laptops. She expressed shock that her given password could open Ogalla’s email and said there was no criminal intent behind her actions.Will County Judge Derek Ewanic denied a motion for a new trial and for acquittal filed by Traynere’s attorney, Colin “CJ” Haney, who argued the special prosecutor appointed to the case did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Traynere believed the login attempt would succeed.
Special prosecutor William Elward said Traynere picked the email account of a “political foe” and seemed to “delight” in accessing Ogalla’s email.
Elward noted Traynere is a first-time offender and asked for court supervision, community service and court fees as part of the sentencing.
Haney said Traynere has dedicated many years to public service.
Will County’s Information Technology Department issued shared passwords for 16 years, which blurs any clear lines of authorization, according to motions filed in court.
Traynere confirmed a suspected security flaw and did not intend to exploit it, her attorneys said. Traynere also closed the browser believing she would be logged out of Ogalla’s email, contacted the IT Department and County Executive Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant, which is inconsistent of criminal conduct, Haney argued.
Traynere was originally charged with three misdemeanor counts of computer tampering.
She was found not guilty of forwarding an email that Republican County Board member Steve Balich, of Homer Glen, had sent to Ogalla.
Ewanic agreed Traynere believed she was in her own email account when she forwarded Balich’s email hours after she initially logged into Ogalla’s account.
Traynere said she is still considering whether to appeal the case.
Also Tuesday, Ewanic dismissed a traffic ticket Traynere received stemming from March 2025 incident, which alleged she hit a child riding a bike in Bolingbrook. The case was first dismissed May 15, 2025, but Elward refiled the case.
Like last year, the complaining witnesses did not show up to court Tuesday, and the case was dismissed.
Traynere said after the hearing the issues were all about politics and an attempt to smear her.
“This was political theater,” Traynere said. “As the song goes, I’m still standing.”
Last month, some Republican board members called on Traynere to resign from her County Board seat.
Traynere said Republicans will likely continue to harass her on the board, but she will ignore them.
She disagreed with Ewanic’s assessment when he called her Ogalla’s opponent. She said the two of them live and represent different districts and cannot run against one another in elections. Rather, they are two board members with different views, she said.
In the Democratic primary election for County Board District 11, she placed second in a four-way race for two seats.
Michelle Mullins is a freelance reporter.
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