In Crews v. Lundquist, 361 Ill. 193, 201, 197 N.E. 768, 772 (1935), our supreme court stated "the services of a public administrator are rendered in the discharge of a function of state government." The court also recognized that as a "public officer a public administrator enjoys certain privileges not enjoyed by private administrators and is under certain duties not required of such other administrators." Crews, 361 Ill. at 199, 197 N.E. at 771. Moreover, in Ramsay v. VanMeter, 300 Ill. 193, 204, 133 N.E. 193, 196 (1921), the supreme court held a public administrator of an estate is "undoubtedly an officer" of the State. In People ex rel. Lowe v. Marquette National Fire Insurance Co., 351 Ill. 516, 526, 184 N.E. 800, 804 (1933), the court stated, the public administrator "is a state officer just as a director of trade and commerce is a state officer."