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Cook County's Top Watchdog Suing Berrios For Ignoring Subpoena

CHICAGO (STMW) -- Cook County Inspector General Patrick Blanchard says Joe Berrios has been dodging a subpoena for nearly a year.

Now Blanchard is taking the Cook County Assessor to court, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

Blanchard's office sued Berrios late last week, asking a Cook County judge to force Berrios to comply with Blanchard's subpoena demanding records related to tax breaks on two properties owned by a Berrios office manager, Lewis Towers.

He wants to know about homeowner's exemptions on Towers' homes in Chicago and Sauk Village. Residential property owners in Cook County may claim only one homeowner exemption — on the home where they live full-time.

Berrios' office has said Blanchard doesn't have the authority to subpoena him, and Berrios said he's avoiding the subpoena at the advice of his "attorney" — Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez's office.

"They tell us what to do," Berrios said.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2013. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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