Tyrone Clarence Fahner ( ; November 18, 1942 – September 16, 2024) was an American lawyer and politician. A member of the Republican Party, he served as

Illinois Attorney General The Illinois attorney general is the highest legal officer of the state of Illinois in the United States. Originally an appointed office, it is now an office filled by statewide election. Based in Chicago and Springfield, the attorney general ...

from 1980 until 1983. He was appointed to the position by Governor James R. Thompson after the incumbent, William Scott, had been convicted of a tax crime, which disqualified him from office.

Early life and education

Tyrone Clarence Fahner was born on November 18, 1942, in

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

,Appointment of Tyrone C. Fahner as a Member of the Board of Foreign Scholarships
American Presidency Project: Ronald Reagan (December 8, 1988). to Warren Fahner, a

Chrysler FCA US, LLC, Trade name, doing business as Stellantis North America and known historically as Chrysler ( ), is one of the "Big Three (automobile manufacturers), Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn H ...

employee, and Alma (Newman) Fahner, who worked at

Michigan Bell Michigan Bell is the subsidiary of AT&T serving the state of Michigan. Following the Bell System divestiture on January 8, 1984, the company became a subsidiary of Ameritech, the Regional Bell operating company that served the midwestern United ...

as a telephone operator.An Interview with Tyrone C. Fahner

Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum documents the life of the 16th U.S. president, Abraham Lincoln, and the course of the American Civil War. Combining traditional scholarship with 21st-century showmanship techniques, the museu ...

, Illinois Statecraft – Jim Thompson Oral History Project, Interview # IST-A-L-2015-019. Fahner graduated from

Denby High School The Edwin C. Denby High School is a public secondary education school located at 12800 Kelly Road in northeastern Detroit, Michigan, United States. Denby High opened in 1930, and the building was listed on the National Register of Historic Plac ...

in 1961 and became a student at the

University of Michigan at Ann Arbor The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

, where he was a member of the

Delta Tau Delta Delta Tau Delta () is a United States–based international Greek letter college fraternity. Delta Tau Delta was founded at Bethany College, Bethany, Virginia, (now West Virginia) in 1858. The fraternity currently has around 130 collegiate chapt ...

fraternity. He received his

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

from the University of Michigan in 1965, his J.D. from

Wayne State University Law School Wayne State University Law School (Wayne Law) is the law school of Wayne State University in Detroit. Wayne Law is located in Midtown, Detroit's Cultural Center. Founded in 1927, the law school offers juris doctor (J.D.), master of laws (LL.M.), ...

in 1968, and an

LL.M. A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is a postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in another subject. In many jurisdi ...

from

Northwestern University School of Law The Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law (formerly known as Northwestern University School of Law from 1891 to 2015) is the law school of Northwestern University, a Private university, private research university. The law school is l ...

in 1971.

Career

In the early 1970s, after a short period in private practice, Fahner became an

Assistant U.S. Attorney An assistant United States attorney (AUSA) is an official career civil service position in the U.S. Department of Justice composed of lawyers working under the U.S. attorney of each U.S. federal judicial district. They represent the federal gov ...

in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois, serving under then-U.S. Attorney James R. (Jim) Thompson. Fahner left that office to work for the

law firm A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise consumer, clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and Obligation, respon ...

of Freeman, Rothe, Freeman & Salzman in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

from 1975 to 1977. When Thompson was elected

governor of Illinois The governor of Illinois is the head of government of Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its we ...

in 1977 he selected Fahner to serve as his director of the Illinois Department of Law Enforcement, a post which Thompson held until 1979. In 1980, Thompson appointed Fahner to serve as

, filling the vacancy created after Attorney General William J. Scott was convicted of

tax evasion Tax evasion or tax fraud is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to red ...

. Fahner ran for a full term as attorney general, but was defeated by Democratic candidate

Neil Hartigan Cornelius Francis Hartigan (born May 4, 1938) is an American politician, lawyer, and judge who served as the 38th Attorney General of Illinois and the 40th Lieutenant Governor of Illinois. He is a member of the Democratic Party (United States), ...

in the 1982 election. After leaving office in 1983, Fahner returned to private practice, joining the

Mayer Brown LLP Mayer Brown is a global white-shoe law firm, founded in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It has offices in 27 cities throughout the Americas, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, with its largest offices being in Chicago, Washington, D.C., New Yo ...

as a partner.Mayer Brown's Ty Fahner named board chairman of the Shedd
''

Crain's Chicago Business ''Crain's Chicago Business'' is a weekly business newspaper in Chicago, IL. It is owned by Detroit-based Crain Communications. History The first issue of ''Crain's Chicago Business'' is dated April 17, 1978. In 1977, when Crain Communicati ...

'' (July 17, 2012). Fahner served on the firm's management committee from 1985 to 2007, and was its co-chairman from 1998 to 2001 and its chairman from 2001 to 2007. In 2015, Fahner wrote a letter to U.S. District Judge Thomas M. Durkin urging a lenient sentence for former

House Speaker The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hung ...

Dennis Hastert John Dennis Hastert ( ; born January 2, 1942) is an American former politician, teacher, and wrestling coach who represented from 1987 to 2007 and served as the 51st speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1999 to 2007. Hast ...

, who had pleaded guilty to unlawfully

structuring Structuring, also known as smurfing in banking jargon, is the practice of executing financial transactions such as making bank deposits in a specific pattern, calculated to avoid triggering financial institutions to file reports required by law ...

bank withdrawals to avoid reporting requirements. (Hastert had made secret payments to a man whom he had

sexually abused Sexual abuse or sex abuse is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using physical force, or by taking advantage of another. It often consists of a persistent pattern of sexual assaults. The offender is r ...

decades earlier, when Hastert was a high school teacher and coach.)Jason Meisner
More than 40 letters in support of Hastert made public before sentencing
''Chicago Tribune'' (April 22, 2016). Fahner referred to Hastert as "a kind, strong, principled, and unselfish man" and wrote: "I urge the court to permit him to live the rest of his life in freedom with his family and friends, and all those who love and admire him." Fahner subsequently said that it was a mistake for him to use Mayer Brown firm

letterhead A letterhead is the heading at the top of a sheet of letter paper (stationery). It consists of a name, address, logo or trademark, and sometimes a background pattern. Overview Many companies and individuals prefer to create a letterhead template ...

for the letter.Roy Strom
Firm Name on Hastert Support Letter Was 'Mistake,' Mayer Brown Partner Says
''National Law Journal'' (April 25, 2016). In the

2016 Republican Party presidential primaries Presidential primaries and caucuses of the Republican Party took place within all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and five U.S. territories between February 1 and June 7, 2016. These elections selected the 2,472 delegates that we ...

, Fahner was a delegate pledged to the

presidential campaign A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making progress within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, by which representatives are chosen or referen ...

Jeb Bush John Ellis "Jeb" Bush (born February 11, 1953) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 43rd governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007. A member of the Bush family, Bush political family, he was an unsuccessful candidate for pre ...

Memberships and board service

In 1988,

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

appointed Fahner to the Board of Foreign Scholarships, for a term ending in 1991. Fahner joined the board of trustees of the

Shedd Aquarium Shedd Aquarium (formally the John G. Shedd Aquarium) is an indoor public aquarium in Chicago. Opened on May 30, 1930, the aquarium holds about 32,000 animals. It is the third largest aquarium in the Western Hemisphere (after the Georgia Aquariu ...

in 2004, and became the chairman of the board in 2012. Fahner was president of the civic committee of the

Commercial Club of Chicago The Commercial Club of Chicago is a nonprofit 501(c)(4) social welfare organization founded in 1877 with a mission to promote the social and economic vitality of the metropolitan area of Chicago. History The Commercial Club was founded in 187 ...

Personal life and death

Fahner was married to Anne Fahner.Bob Goldsborough
Former AG Ty Fahner buys Northfield house for $1.24 million
''Chicago Tribune'' (December 30, 2016). The family lived in Evanston for many years before moving to Northfield in 2014. Fahner died in Northfield on September 16, 2024, at the age of 81.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fahner, Tyrone C. 1942 births 2024 deaths Lawyers from Evanston, Illinois People from Northfield, Illinois Politicians from Detroit University of Michigan alumni Wayne State University Law School alumni Wayne State University faculty Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law alumni Illinois attorneys general Illinois Republicans People associated with Mayer Brown