The shift from Clay County to Sangamon County would be “proper,” the state wrote in its motion, because Pritzker has an “official residence” in Springfield and the executive orders and disaster proclamations Bailey’s lawsuit disputes were officially issued there.

According to statute, the passage of laws and other official state actions must occur in Springfield. Even though Pritzker was last in the state capital to update residents about the government’s response to COVID-19 on March 16 and physically signed the documents in Chicago, they were entered into the state’s record in Springfield with the secretary of state’s office.

“Governor Pritzker maintains his official residence in Sangamon County, and does not reside in Clay County. The orders Governor Pritzker issued for the purpose of combating COVID-19 were issued in Sangamon County, not Clay County,” the attorney general’s office argued in its court filing. “…All of the documents, and the actions they memorialize, are intrinsically connected with Sangamon County.”

DeVore characterized the attorney general’s office referencing Pritzker’s official residence in Springfield as an “obfuscation at its best,” and alleged where the governor lives is not important for determining where Bailey’s lawsuit should be litigated.

“It should not escape this court that Pritzker does not allege he actually lives in Sangamon County,” he wrote in the court document. “Unless the Thompson Center has somehow moved to Sangamon County, given it seems to be the location of Pritzker’s daily press briefings, it would seem readily apparent he is actually residing in Cook County.”