To the Editor:
Please do not confuse the actions by the county board with any legal actions against me. The county board is a political body and their choice to terminate me was a political decision.
The legal battle over the investigation I have already won and have been cleared by the Attorney General of the State of Illinois.
What taxpayers of Madison County need to know is that the county board is being pushed by Sheriff John Lakin and State's Attorney Tom Gibbons to save face on a failed 2 year investigation made to hurt Chairman Kurt Prenzler and his re-election.
The county board is operating under the legal advice of Tom Gibbons, the same person who started the investigation illegally and was forcibly removed from it by a judge appointed by the Illinois Supreme Court. The prosecution was taken away from Gibbons due to his conflicts and given to the Illinois Attorney General. He is still conflicted in this matter.
I fought for the public release of investigation affidavits for search warrants and they were only made available last week. I gave those affidavits to the press because the assertions are not supported by evidence.
The rush to judgment by the county board was done before the public was able to understand the political nature of Gibbon's political investigation into the county administration.
In Gibbon's own office he has placed individuals on paid administrative leave for 10 months and 13 months respectively while internal investigations were completed. In my case he has recommended to the county board that I receive no due process and he has pushed for all this to be wrapped up in a week's time.
It is a mistake by the county board to not give its employees due process. It forces someone like me to assert my rights in a court of law which would have been avoidable and unnecessary.
Doug Hulme