DEWITT CO. (ECWd) –
During “bill payment” at the DeWitt County Board Meeting on Aug 15th, a board member questioned the validity of a bill presented for payment. The bill in question was a credit card assigned to the Probation/Drug Court Officer. It’s not that an incorrect amount was presented, but that a charge was paid by the officer and it was annotated as personal items.
The board member questioned whether the credit card was a County Gov’t card or whether it was a personal card. Turns out it was a County credit card. That being the case, he questioned about people charging personal thing to the county card. He could not get an answer out of the State’s Attorney’s office, who was present, but instead started receiving “excuses” about where that money comes from. It doesn’t matter where it comes from, the fact is, it is PUBLIC CREDIT!
Use of public funds, property or credit for other than public purposes is a crime, and the State’s Attorney’s office knows it! At a minimum it is a violation of Article VIII, Section 1, of the 1970 Constitution of the State of Illinois. Other statutes fall in place also, like official misconduct, and they are all potential felonies if prosecuted.
From the words spoken in the audio, this is not an isolated incident and the County of DeWitt needs to institute a Credit Card Use Policy immediately. Keep in mind this comes from an officer that sees to it that other people follow the law, and if not he recommends they be returned to custody.
Audio is below, and video below that.
