Madison County State's Attorney Tom Gibbons has asked the state Attorney General to determine if a batch of political emails that circulated among officials on the county's email system constitutes criminal activity.
Gibbons wrote a letter to AG Kwame Raoul on Nov. 3 - election day - approximately one month after the county Judiciary Committee asked him to do so.
"Enclosed herewith, please find a copy of emails I have been requested to forward to your office for review to determine if any of them constitute evidence of criminal activity, as requested by members of the Madison County Board," the letter opens.
Hundreds of emails ranging from 2008-2016 were obtained by former Madison County State’s Attorney’s office employee Andrew Kane through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. In September, Kane asked the county board for an investigation into the use of the county’s email system for political purposes.
In his request for an investigation, Kane wrote a letter to county board Chairman Kurt Prenzler. He pointed out that Gibbons was quoted in a news article saying that political emails to county recipients was “unlawful and prohibited political activity," while Gibbons was accusing Republican candidate for State’s Attorney Tom Haine of sending improper fundraising emails to attorneys working at the county.
Gibbons, Democrat, ran unsuccessfully for a circuit court vacancy in the general election. Haine was elected State's Attorney.
“Because the State's Attorney has stated that these emails rise to the level of being ‘unlawful and prohibited,’ it would be prudent for the board to demand a formal investigation to determine the full extent and scope of the activity,” Kane wrote.
He cited what the Madison County Personnel Policy Handbook says about prohibited political activity.
“While some of the officials and employees involved are no longer employed by the county, their behavior has only emboldened others to continue the prohibited conduct,” he wrote. “For those officials and employees still employed, there should be swift and immediate action taken to enforce all applicable laws and pertinent policies as defined by the Madison County Personnel Policy Handbook or department policies.”
Republican county board member Mick Madison of Bethalto said on Nov. 23 that he is not sure all "clearly political" emails have come to light.
He also said that ever since Madison County governance turned Republican in 2016, after many decades of Democratic rule, the new leaders and board members have been attacked.
"For four years they have attacked us...from the beginning of the administration," he said. "We're the ones trying to clean up corruption."
He said that some of the officials sending and receiving political emails are attorneys who should know the law better.
"We're going to see if the Attorney General sees anything wrong, when we as non-attorneys see the same and we know it's wrong."