Since 2015, at least 13 people have died and dozens more have been sickened in connection with Legionnaires' disease at the Illinois Veterans Home. | H-W File Photo

Posted: Oct. 25, 2018 3:25 pm Updated: Oct. 25, 2018 4:28 pm

QUINCY — Attorneys with the Illinois attorney general's office on Thursday went before an Adams County grand jury regarding Legionnaires' disease outbreaks at the Illinois Veterans Home.

After exiting the grand jury, the three attorneys confirmed they were with the attorney general's office but said that was all they could say when approached by a Herald-Whig reporter.

Attorney general spokeswoman Maura Possley said the office had no comment on the investigation.

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan's office said Oct. 3 that it was investigating to see if Gov. Bruce Rauner's administration broke any laws in the way it handled the Legionnaires' disease outbreak at the Veterans Home.

The investigation was first reported by WBEZ in Chicago.

Since 2015, at least 13 people have died and dozens more have been sickened in connection with the respiratory disease at the home.

Adams County State's Attorney Gary Farha said he was contacted by the attorney general's office on Oct. 3 regarding the grand jury schedule. The Adams County grand jury meets every three weeks.

Farha said he did not know what the attorney general's investigation entails.

Rauner's spokeswoman Patty Schuh responded to Thursday's development saying that the Illinois attorney general is charged with “fairly and impartially representing the state” and represents the state and the Department of Veterans' Affairs since 11 lawsuits were filed in the Illinois Court of Claims claiming the state was negligent in the deaths at the home.

“In the documents filed with the court by the Illinois attorney general in each of the cases — the attorney general denied any state negligence or wrongdoing,” Schuh said. “The attorney general also denied the claimants are due damages. The attorney general's first court filing stemming from the 2015 outbreak came on June 27, 2016, and the most recent on Oct. 25, 2017. “

In a response to one of the lawsuits filed, which was obtained by The Herald-Whig, the attorney general denied that the state “negligently caused the death” of a resident and that the family was not entitled to a claim.

Rauner and his public health director, Dr. Nirav Shah, vigorously have defended the state's response to the crisis caused by waterborne bacteria since WBEZ reported in December that Shah maintained his six-day delay in publicizing the first two cases was within standard protocol. But documents showed that then-Rauner press secretary Lindsay Walters, who now works in President Donald Trump's administration, advised in an Aug. 25, 2015, email against making a public statement about the situation, suggesting, “Let's hold and see if we receive any reporter inquiries.”

The issue has hounded Rauner, and Madigan's announcement drew a sharp response from the governor's election Democratic opponent, J.B. Pritzker.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.