Eye On Illinois: State Police looking to consolidate, triage corruption tips

Do you think your state Senator is on the take? Is the city building inspector turning a blind eye to obvious violations? Is the school district CFO skimming off the top?

These and other examples of public corruption are often rumored and rarely corroborated, but perhaps a new Illinois State Police tool can improve outcomes. The agency issued a news release Thursday detailing its new online form allowing average Illinoisans to report public corruption directly to the Special Investigations Unit (tinyurl.com/ISPcorruption).

Reports do not need a name or location, but do require a phone number and email address. Respondents must name the government agency involved, the name and title of the reported subject and offer a detailed summary. The form has optional fields to indicate other agencies notified along with information on witnesses.

“Examples of public corruption may include an elected official steering contracts to friends in exchange for a monetary kickback, overbilling a contractor and embezzling the money, personally benefiting from federal/state-funded programs, wire fraud and money laundering,” according to the release. “Having allegations reported to one place will streamline the process and allow ISP to respond more quickly. ISP will triage all online submissions and determine the correct agency to handle the investigation.”

Thursday’s column explored ISP’s fresh data on its updated Clear and Present Danger report system. Here’s hoping the agency is similarly detailed on this new effort nine months from now.

RECONSIDERED PRAISE: On Aug. 23, I examined General Assembly turnover data. That column included “a little praise for state Sen. Tom Bennett, R-Gibson City, and state Reps. Mike Marron, R-Fithian, and Lance Yednock, D-Ottawa, who recently announced they won’t seek reelection in 2024. All three men have committed to completing their terms and did so with enough time for candidates of all parties to mount clean, incumbent-free campaigns.

“These moves are refreshingly distinct from the mid-term resignation/appointment process, which often triggers downstream vacancies. Retiring without leaving voters a direct voice in your replacement shows sincere respect for the office.”

Some slight reconsideration is in order. On Monday, Marron announced he would be leaving his post earlier, resigning Dec. 18 to begin working as president and CEO of Vermilion Advantage, a chamber of commerce based in Danville.

“My new position is nonpartisan, and I am therefore removing myself from all political activity,” Marron said in a news release announcing the change.

That’s fair, but this choice still creates a vacancy, which means party officials will name a replacement who can enter the 2024 campaign as an incumbent, the end result being another person serving in Springfield without being directly elected – a problem made only worse when the departing lawmaker also has the political power to name their own replacement.

• Scott T. Holland writes about state government issues for Shaw Media. Follow him on Twitter @sth749. He can be reached at sholland@shawmedia.com.