Village of Chatham Mayoral Candidate Craig Law

Sangamon Co. (ECWd) –

Craig Law, a current Sangamon County Sheriff Deputy and Candidate for Mayor in the Village of Chatham is running for Mayor on a platform of “Professionalism”, based on what appears to be his twenty-one years in law enforcement.

“Professionalism: Twenty-one years in law enforcement have taught me about doing things the right way. Chatham residents deserve to have a village president who emphasizes professionalism and respect for employees and those they serve.”

For those that have ever paid attention to how a criminal defense attorney prepares his defense, you’re aware one key way is to discredit the arresting officer.  How do you do that?  You just identify situations where the officer has not followed the law himself or done things the “right way”.  Nail either one of those down and presto; you have discredited the police.

What does “doing things the right way “really mean to Craig Law?  If I were a defense attorney attempting to discredit him, the first thing I would dive into would be anything he filed to run for office.  The reason being, those filings are controlled by law and contain signatures under oath.

I have obtained Law’s filings to run in this election and we find that there is a significant problem.  A problem that I brought to his attention back in December to include a request that he remove himself from the election.  To date, I have not received any response.

Why did I request he remove himself from the election?  Because I believe when an officer of the law removes his election petition papers from the public body, then alters them, and turns them back in with no updated notary, it shows a willingness to disregard the law.  To me, that is unacceptable for a person wanting to be the Mayor of a community who claims to be a Professional and credits his 21 years in law enforcement having taught him about doing the right thing.

10 ILCS 5/10-4 -…“A petition, when presented or filed, shall not be withdrawn, altered, or added to,..”

It is clear, comparing the two sets of records we obtained, Mr. Law’s papers were withdrawn, altered, and turned back in.  That appears to be a violation of the election law.

Specifically,

• First set of papers” Filed 11/22/2016 at 2:29 pm
• The second set of papers Filed 11/28/2016 at 9:19 am
• The first set of signatures is the same as the second set, which means they are the same documents.
• Both sets appear to be identical other than alterations made to the second set.
• First set, no file date for Statement of Economic Interest
• Second set Statement of Economic Interest file date stamp now appears.
• Second Set, Statement of Candidacy has a changed election date, yet the same notary, which means changes were made after they were notarized!
• Same notary on all documents, thus no new notary after changes made.
• Date of the election changed from the first set to the second set.

Officer Law, have you ever withdrawn petition documents you turned in to run for office? 

Officer Law, election law states a  petition, when presented or filed, shall not be withdrawn. How do you explain the changes to what is clearly two sets of identical petitions but with modifications made to the second set?

Officer Law, isn’t it true those changes came after you withdrew your papers because you became aware of mistakes on them?

Officer Law, have you ever altered election documents after they were notarized and then turn them back into the Village Clerk?

Officer Law, are such actions consistent with your idea of doing the right thing?

Some may see this as trivial.  We see it as an apparent violation of our election laws by one who is employed to enforce our laws. Considering this candidate stands on doing things the right way, is it asking too much to hold him to his own standard?  If he can’t follow the simple process of filling out election papers properly we can only wonder how things will be done if he becomes the Mayor.

We raised this issue because one of the other Candidates found themselves in a similar situation and actually did the right thing.  We wrote about it in this article.   When one person can figure it out and do it the right way we should expect nothing less from another who also wants to be your Mayor.

Vote Smart, not emotionally!