How it's done

Illinois is a leader in yet another dubious category — zombie boards and commissions

An audit report published in June found that more than 100 state boards were inactive during the period studied, while 28% of boards that were required to meet a certain number of times had failed to do so. Most boards paid their members some type of compensation, such as reimbursing expenses, amounting to almost $2 million a year. But in several cases the auditors couldn’t even say for sure whether board members were supposed to be paid or not.

Of course they should be paid. That's why they're there. They also serve who simply cash their checks.