Shelby County – Public Records Missing From Former State’s Attorney’s Computers –

Shelby Co. (ECWd) –

According to an email dated February 10, 2023, from the court-appointed special prosecutor Tracy Weaver, numerous public records appear to be missing from the State’s Attorney’s office computers. While emails placed in a deleted folder are not technically the destruction of a record, it is a form of concealment of public records.  More concerning are the other referenced missing files.

“Elizabeth and I have also found that all documents (letters, charging documents, motions, subpoenas, orders, FOIA responses, press releases, etc.) have been deleted from Ms. Kroncke’s and Mr. Scott’s computers.”

The reason we believe these are more concerning than emails placed in a deleted folder is that the alleged missing files are public records that are now missing.  In particular, the press releases from that office which were routinely provided to media outlets other than us were also posted to the official Facebook page of the State’s Attorney which has also vanished from the Internet.

The missing Facebook account is of additional interest due to an anonymous tip we received about a week before the former State’s Attorney Nichole Kroncke left office that suggested we screen capture her official Facebook page because it may not be there much longer.  Such a tip indicates to us someone knew the Facebook page was going to be deleted or shut down.

This is one such screen capture of the page taken the day after we were contacted. While we did not capture the entire Facebook content, we did capture all the photos which are also public records.  We also need to note this now missing Facebook page is not the work of the current State’s Attorney as some have attempted to imply.  The page was scrubbed long before anyone had even applied for the open position.

According to the Local Records Act, no public record shall be disposed of by any officer or agency unless they first obtain written approval from the Local Records Commission.

(50 ILCS 205/7) (from Ch. 116, par. 43.107)
Sec. 7. Disposition rules. Except as otherwise provided by law, no public record shall be disposed of by any officer or agency unless the written approval of the appropriate Local Records Commission is first obtained.

We requested a copy of any record destruction authorizations and can confirm no such authorization was issued pertaining to any records in the Shelby County State’s Attorney’s office.

We also contacted the former State’s Attorney, Nichole Kroncke, in hopes of getting an explanation for the missing records. That request was through Facebook Messenger and quoted below.

“Media Question: The appointed special prosecutor sent an email February 10, 2023 indicating numerous files were missing from the office to inlcude FOIA requests and responses. We also are aware the official Facebook page of the Office of Shelby County State’s Attorney has been shut down and no longer available to the public. Can you provide any information as to why files would be missing or deleted in your former office? Can you provide any comment regarding the Official Facebook page of your former office being deleted or made inaccessible to the public? We will publish any comment in its entirety in a future article. Thanks Kirk Allen ECWd”

The local records act outlines that the destruction or concealment of public records is a potential crime.  The qualifiers are that whoever violated the act pertaining to altering, destroying, defacing, removing, or concealing public records did so knowingly, without lawful authority and with the intent to defraud any party, public officer, or entity.

(50 ILCS 205/4) (from Ch. 116, par. 43.104)
    Sec. 4. (a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b) of this Section, all public records made or received by, or under the authority of, or coming into the custody, control or possession of any officer or agency shall not be mutilated, destroyed, transferred, removed or otherwise damaged or disposed of, in whole or in part, except as provided by law. Any person who knowingly, without lawful authority and with the intent to defraud any party, public officer, or entity, alters, destroys, defaces, removes, or conceals any public record commits a Class 4 felony.

We note that there were multiple people working in that office, and we have no knowledge as to who may be responsible for deleting, removing, or concealing the records outlined in this article.

Destruction of public records is nothing new to Shelby County.  The forensic audit performed on the Sheriff’s Office payroll matter confirmed records were deleted as well (article here). While the deletion of one particular record, in that case, had all the earmarks of an intentional coverup, copies have been provided that prove it did exist and are still available to properly assess the payroll matters yet to be rectified.

We have asked if there is a criminal investigation taking place regarding the missing records but have not received any response at the time of publication, nor have we received any response from Kroncke. In the event we obtain a response on these matters, we will update accordingly.