Madison Co., IL. (ECWd) –
***Updated by ECWd to correct context; this is information dealing with a pending lawsuit filed against SEIU***
PRESS RELEASE
Newly uncovered public documents from a 2002 SIUE inquest detail admission by Chris Slusser of entry into a supervisor’s belongings as reported in police panel transcript. Senior police officers call out Slusser for “incredible credibility problem” and state “we do not believe you are being truthful.”
EDWARDSVILLE – The lawsuit filed by Robert E. Dorman against the Southern Illinois University of Edwardsville asks for the audio recording of the March 2002 disciplinary hearing of former SIUE police officer Chris Slusser, who is the current Madison County Treasurer.
Dorman provided exhibits to the court of Slusser’s disciplinary hearing including a typed transcript of the police inquest into Slusser’s entry into his supervisor’s briefcase.
According to the transcript, Slusser, without the owner’s knowledge, opened the briefcase of his superior, opened his personal mail, read, and copied it. Slusser admits to taking the personal mail and distributing it widely among police circles, with the mail finally ending up in the hands of the SIUE vice chancellor’s office.
Dorman received these public documents from a freedom of information request to the SIUE after being told by a former senior SIUE police officer who told him that Slusser was “…forced to resign or have charges of burglary filed against him.”
Chris Slusser was elected to the Madison County Board in 2008 just six years after resigning as an SIUE cop and the public was never informed of his dubious past.
The former disgraced cop spent several years on the county board rising to become the Madison County Republican Party Chairman, without any mention of his fall from the SIUE police department.
In 2016, Madison County Chairman Kurt Prenzler appointed Chris Slusser to be Madison County Treasurer and Slusser had told everyone that he left SIUE police force to start a new career in financial services.
Those familiar with Slusser’s appointment to county treasurer know Kurt Prenzler and county board members reviewed Slusser’s work history and he was asked detailed questions about his past. The treasurer requires a person with high integrity since they collect around $500 million in county property taxes and have the financial information of almost every landowner in Madison County.
Dorman was the former Madison County IT Director that was accused of wrongdoing by Chris Slusser. Both he and former County Administrator Doug Hulme faced a multiyear investigation based on claims made by Chris Slusser that were found to be false.
“Chris Slusser has lied about me, lied to the public and it would be in everyone’s best interest if Slusser resigned immediately,” Dorman said. “I have worked for some of the top corporations in America and if he can’t be trusted to be a cop how can he be county treasurer?”
Hulme ran against Slusser in the 2022 Republican primary in which Sheriff Jeff Connor and State’s Attorney Tom Haine endorsed Chris Slusser.
“I find it very hard to believe that the top law enforcement officials in Madison County endorsed a disgraced cop for public office who should have been charged with a crime,” Hulme said. “My dad served over twenty years as an Illinois State Police officer, and it makes me sick to even think of all of Slusser’s lies and that the guy couldn’t even make it as an honest cop.”
