Prisoner Review Board Appointee Must Resign From County Board, Bloomington Schools –

SPRINGFIELD, IL. (ECWd) –

Governor Pritzker appointed Matthew Coates to the Prisoner Review Board last Friday.

Coates, at the time of his appointment, was still listed as Director of Communications for the Bloomington School District 87 (according to their website), is an appointed (since May 2022) McLean County Board member and is running for election to the McLean County Board.

The Pantagraph reported that the Bloomington School District posted a job opening for a Director of Communications on May 27, 2022, but didn’t state whether or not Coates was still employed at the district (he is still listed as an employee on the school’s website).

McLean County Board members indicated Coates attended the Thursday night county board meeting and they were unaware of any resignations.

At the time of this publication, Coates’ county board campaign Facebook page was still active (here).

The issue is the statutory requirement of Prisoner Review Board members to work full-time, not hold a public office and not have salaried employment while serving on the board.

We would have thought the Governor’s Office and legal counsel would have determined if he worked elsewhere in a capacity that would hinder such an appointment.  If he is to keep this appointment he needs to immediately resign from the school and from his county board seat.