Court Denies former Mayor Keith Pekau’s Motion to Dismiss lawsuit

Former Mayor Must Answer Village’s Complaint, Village of Orland Park says countering misleading information released by disgraced for mayor Keith Pekau

Orland Park, IL (July 16, 2026) – The Village of Orland Park announced that on July 6, 2026, the Cook County Circuit Court denied former Mayor Keith Pekau’s motion to dismiss the Village’s lawsuit, allowing the case to proceed.

The Village filed suit on July 23, 2025, seeking to prevent Pekau from disclosing confidential information that he obtained solely by virtue of serving as Mayor and to require him to return Village records.

On August 7, 2025, the court entered a temporary restraining order prohibiting Pekau from disseminating confidential Village information.

That order remains in effect despite Pekau’s efforts to have it dissolved.

Since the lawsuit was filed, Pekau has pursued a series of procedural challenges seeking dismissal of the case without responding to the Village’s allegations. A timeline of the litigation is available on the Village’s website: https://www.orlandpark.org/government/transparency-and-accountability.

Most recently, Pekau filed a motion to dismiss the complaint. Pekau has continually argued that the First Amendment gives him the right to disclose the Village’s confidential information. While the Village is committed to transparency, Illinois law recognizes that certain categories of information – including private personnel information, collective bargaining strategy, litigation strategy, and other legally protected records – can remain confidential. The Village maintains that former public officials do not have the authority to unilaterally disclose confidential governmental information acquired through their public office.

In a 13-page order entered on July 6, 2026, Judge Kate Moreland rejected Pekau’s principal arguments and denied his motion to dismiss the Village’s declaratory judgment claim. In doing so, the court concluded that the Village’s allegations can be interpreted as seeking relief only with respect to speech that Pekau gained through his public office, effectively negating Pekau’s public claims that the Village seeks to prevent him from speaking at all.

As a result of this ruling, the Village’s lawsuit will move forward, and Pekau must now answer the Village’s allegations.

The Village has previously offered to end the litigation if Pekau would agree to stop disseminating the confidential Village information and return Village records. Pekau has declined that offer.

Although the court dismissed certain limited allegations relating to pleading issues, it did so in a way that permits the Village to amend its complaint. The Village intends to do so, and the court’s ruling does not affect the core claims seeking to protect confidential Village information and recover Village records.

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