Illinois State Police will investigate if there were any criminal violations in the removal of items from personnel files at the sheriff’s department, according to a request from Henry County State’s Attorney Terry Patton.
The issue became public at the Henry County Board meeting on Tuesday, March 9, in Cambridge.
Patton met Thursday with a representative from the state on the Local Records Act for local government agencies, as well as an assistant attorney general in a conference call to discuss the Freedom of Information Act.
He said there are so many questions at this point, he’s having an outside agency come in.
“I asked the state police to come in and do an investigation and make it public so we can let everybody know exactly what happened,” Patton said.
He said personnel records are subject to the Local Records Act, but accidentally allowing such a record to be taken would not constitute a criminal violation if it happened by accident.
“You can’t have the sheriff’s department do their own investigation, so it’s routine to bring in an outside agency,” he noted.
He said unlike many crime investigations, this is a situation where it’s not known if there was a crime.
“Everybody has more questions than answers and somebody has to get to the bottom of it,” Patton said, adding the goal is a conclusion that the public is confident was a “fair and impartial one.”
The Henry County Ethics Commission—composed of two Republicans and two Democrats—looks into matters only if someone gives them a written, signed and notarized complaint.
“No one has filed a complaint,” said Patton.
He also noted the ethics commission only investigates political activity.
