COUNTY CITES `CONFLICT' WITH BIRKETT, REQUESTS OWN COUNSEL

The DuPage County Board wants an attorney of its own to give it advice on issues surrounding the indictments of seven current and former county employees for allegedly framing Rolando Cruz for the 1983 murder of 10-year-old Jeanine Nicarico of Naperville. The County Board, which is already paying for the special prosecutor who brought the indictments against four DuPage County sheriff's deputies and three former assistant state's attorneys, discovered recently that DuPage County State's Attorney Joseph E. Birkett, the board's official legal representative, is only obligated to provide advice and not necessarily take direction from the 24-member body.

The County Board wants an …