Gail Borden Public Library trustees on Tuesday said they are powerless to remove one of their own members who has ignored repeated requests for his resignation.

“A number of people in public have the impression that the board is able to vote on whether or not a duly elected official can be thrown off the board,” Trustee Herb Gross said. “And this is not so.”

Gross said he wanted the board to publicly acknowledge its inability to act on the matter.

In recent months there have been calls for the resignation of Trustee Randy Hopp, who has been suspended from the library four times, most recently for his treatment of staff. When attending board meetings, he must be escorted by security.

He also is banned from Elgin Community College and Judson University for his behavior on the college campuses and is facing misdemeanor domestic battery charges stemming from a March incident in which he allegedly struck his elderly parents. He has denied the charges.

For the past several months some residents have called for the embattled trustee to resign, but he has refused.

Executive Director Carole Medal said by law, library trustee can only be removed if he or she fails to pay taxes, is absent for a year, moves out of the district or commits a crime related to the role of trustee.

Hopp has previously denied the allegations against him.

In November when he was suspended for his treatment of library staff, he said he was being denied immediate access to documents he felt he had a right to view.

Hopp said at the time “each trustee has the authority to have access to information and has the cooperation of the employees in access to that information.”

The trustee, who has two years left in his term, did not comment at Tuesday’s meeting.