State Politics, Investigations and County Government

The Cheat Sheet of Champaign County and C-U Local attempts to stay focused on their respective local government bodies, but sometimes State politics barges in. This past week or so there have been updates on three separate State political stories that each have related investigations and that have either involved County government offices or required they step aside from their normal duties.

In one example, there was an e-mail suggesting that a rape in Champaign was covered up by a political appointee in a shady lobbyist email involving State Democratic Party players. From the Chicago Tribune:

Champaign County State’s Attorney Julia Rietz said she had spoken to the attorney general’s office Thursday afternoon and would be assisting OEIG’s investigation to unravel the meaning of McClain’s reference to a “rape in Champaign.”

“Certainly, if there’s a victim in my county I want to do everything I can to bring the perpetrator to justice,” she said.

This followed reports from WBEZ and Capitol Fax that Rietz was not going to get involved and had argued that there wasn't enough specific information to open an investigation at her office. A more recent update on the ongoing scandal at the State level here.

In another recent news story, a local State Representative for the Champaign-Urbana area was accused of stealing a purse in Urbana. The News-Gazette had coverage explaining that a special prosecutor has been assigned instead of having the Rietz's office investigate:

Last week, Presiding Judge Tom Difanis appointed the Office of the State’s Attorney Appellate Prosecutor to review Urbana police reports generated about a Jan. 7 incident in which Ammons allegedly took a Coach purse from the Carle Auxiliary Resale Boutique, 810 W. University Ave., U...

In her motion asking for a special prosecutor, Rietz said that “prosecution of the suspect in this matter by the State’s Attorney’s Office could be a conflict of interest for the office or alternatively could create the appearance of an impropriety.”

The apparent conflict is that Rietz’s office represents the county clerk’s office. Rietz and the Ammonses are all active members of the Champaign County Democratic Party.

That full article here, with a lot more details. Capitol Fax had an update earlier this week on other local coverage here.

And finally, in a third State political issue, a computer hiccup with the State's automatic voter registration system has had the Champaign County Clerk looking into potential impacts locally. From the News-Gazette earlier this week:

Champaign County Clerk Aaron Ammons said he has purged from the voter rolls seven non-citizens who were registered here due thanks in part to a glitch at the secretary of state’s office.

In Champaign County, two such people were wrongly allowed to vote in the 2018 general election. A third voted in the 2006 general election, well before automatic voter registration was in place...

In both elections, Champaign County results show that no race was close enough that one or two votes would have changed the result.

Ammons said he’ll continue to investigate the matter and turn over his findings to the state’s attorney’s office.

Full article here with an additional link to a WDWS podcast interview with County Clerk Ammons. WCIA had more here. The Chicago-Sun Times had an update on the glitch and the governor arguing against Republican calls for a pause in automatic voter registration since it has been fixed here.