McDonough Co., Ill. (ECWd) McDonough County Sheriff Nicholas Petitgout has been ordered to reinstate deputy Evan Schmalshof with full back pay and benefits. Schmalshof filed a grievance against Petigout and the matter was arbitrated and ruled on last week. In short, Schmalshof did not lie nor violate policy...
Shelby Co. (ECWd) - Last Tuesday the Shelby County Farm Sale TRO case had yet another hearing in which neither the county chairman nor the county board have legal representation. That fact should concern everyone. During the hearing, the judge indicated that the attorneys, State's Attorney Woolery...
Shelby Co. (ECWd) - According to the judicial docket entry for Shelby County, the Judge opened the single bid received for the sale of the farm and did so in the presence of Shelby County Sheriff Brian McReynolds and Shelbyville Police Chief Brachbill. The court ordered the...
Shelby Co., Ill. (ECWd)- As covered in this article, we filed our Freedom of Information Act lawsuit in May of 2024. We discovered the State's Attorney had not even informed the County Board of the lawsuit until October 22, 2024, five months after our original filing. ...
Jasper Co., Ill. (ECWd) - We were contacted over a laundry list of concerns for the small community of Yale, Illinois, located in Jasper County. As we normally do, a Freedom of Information Act request was submitted. A copy of meeting minutes and agendas for the...
Shelby Co., Ill. (ECWd) - A hearing was scheduled for a motion to intervene on the county farm sale TRO case. Once again no motions were heard and the can was kicked down the road to another hearing scheduled for November 13, 2024. Rob Hanlon, the former...
Champaign Co. (ECWd) - Champaign County is facing an electioneering complaint regarding the attempt to pass a public safety tax increase, doubling that specific tax. Two prior articles on the issues being raised can be viewed here and here. The county has spent over $22,000.00 promoting the...
Iroquois Co., Ill. (ECWd) - A Freedom of Information Act request for search warrants and subpoenas sent to the Iroquois County Public Health Department in 2022 resulted in the court sealing those records the same day of our request. The request was in relation to the...
Shelby Co. (ECWd) - A recent Freedom of Information Act request that also included media questions to the Shelby County State's Attorney resulted in what we believe was an improper denial of records and a very interesting statement that had nothing to do with our question...
Shelby Co. (ECWd) - Several years ago we published numerous articles pertaining to the county boards hiring of private counsel and paying them with public funds. We asserted and stood fast to this day, the hiring was illegal and should have never taken place. We covered...
