Murdock Township Complies With The Law ‘After’ FOIA Request

Douglas Co. (ECWd) –

As the Murdock Township Highway commissioner continues to get paid even though he resides in Coles County and the Township Board has ignored its duty to declare a vacancy and appoint a new highway commissioner, a simple Freedom of Information Act request has once again triggered compliance with the law.

We submitted a FOIA request on October 19, 2025, for the following records.

1. A copy of the Open Meetings Act training Certificates for all board members.
2. A copy of the Freedom of Information Act training certificates for the designated FOIA officer.
3. A copy of the minutes that indicate a FOIA officer was appointed
4. A copy of all claims/warrants/ or any other type of document indicating Highway Commissioner bills to be paid for the last 12 months.
5. A copy of the last Compensation setting resolution for elected officials in the Township.
6. A copy of the General Assistance Bank Statements. If not held in a separate bank account, a copy of the General Assistance account record for the last 12 months.
7. A copy of the total General Assistance paid in the last three years.
8. A copy of any transfers of funds from any accounts to include indicating what fund it was taken from and what fund it was entered into.

An overdue response was provided on October 30, 2025.

1. Three of the board members complied with the required OMA training “after” our FOIA request.  This is an example of a simple FOIA forcing compliance with the law. 
2. The township did not provide any FOIA training Certificate for the designated FOIA officer. 
3. A FOIA officer was appointed on October 27, 2025, after our FOIA request.  The Clerk, Tyler Harvey, is the FOIA officer but no training certificate has been provided. Maybe that explains the improper FOIA response. 
4. They provided Highway Commissioner claims for the last 12 months at this link. 
5. They did not provide any compensation setting resolution, only minutes that set the compensation for the Highway Commissioner, $40,000.00 a year with a 3% raise each year, starting after March of 2025.  Not bad for a guy holding the seat in violation of the law.  The rest of the elected officials got a 10% raise with a 3% increase each year, but the minutes failed to indicate what compensation figure that raise was based on.  
6. They provided 1 page of a bank statement and the total payments made for each of the last three years.  It is clear that they are holding funds in General Assistance that exceed the limitations set by law, which is no more than 2.5 times the average of the prior three-year expenditures, according to the law.  Their average expenditures were $3,548.28, making the allowable accumulation $8,870.71. The one page bank statement indicated a total of $50,462.11.  They should STOP any general assistance levy until this violation is corrected. 
7.  They provided this record; however, they claimed this fund is managed by Tuscola Township.  How many people in Murdock Township knew the elected official with the duty to manage this fund had passed the buck to another township, of which you have no control over in any election? 
   “60 ILCS 1/70-50 -Supervisor of general assistance. The township supervisor shall be ex officio supervisor of general assistance in the township and shall administer the general assistance program in the township as provided in Articles VI, XI, and XII of the Illinois Public Aid Code.”
8. They provided the funds transfer information found at this link. 

As of October 31, 2025, the Douglas County State’s Attorney is expecting to make a charging decision soon regarding the Highway Commissioner holding office while having provided a bogus voter registration form. We believe a simple quo-warranto action could resolve this matter, which would remove him from office.  For more background information on this point, read the articles at this link.