By Cole Lauterbach/Illinois Radio Network

SPRINGFIELD – Disgraced former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert wants his teacher pension returned to him.

Lawyers for Hastert said he earned his pension from the time he was a teacher at Yorkville High School, even though he admitted to sexually molesting minors during his time there. He was never charged because the statute of limitations had expired.
In a letter to the Teachers Retirement System (TRS), lawyers for Hastert said the pension fund was wrong to strip him of his $17,000 annual pension and force him to pay back more than $200,000.

Hastert’s lawyers said in the letter to TRS that his “felony conviction did not relate to or arise out of or in connection to Hastert’s service as a teacher.”

TRS made the move in May, saying Hastert broke a law relating to the time he was teaching at Yorkville High School. This allows TRS to strip Hastert of benefits.

Akerman Law partner Brett Kappell said the language of the law looks to favor TRS, but that a judge could find that Hastert is entitled to the pension.

“From the wording of the statute, it looks as though Speaker Hastert’s lawyer does have a legitimate legal argument,” he said. “But the language is very broad, and when courts interpret statutes, they look to the wording of the statutes first.”

Kappell said the judge will not act emotionally, but he acknowledges the broad language in the law allows for a lot of discretion.

Before his conviction, Hastert was collecting $125,000 annually from three public pensions.

Officials with TRS said they do not comment on pending litigation. A date for a hearing has not been set.