South Central Reporter

Illinois State Senate District 54 issued the following announcement on April 10.

Accusations alleging misconduct and political corruption have been made against officials in the Madison County administration offices. Madison County is one of eight counties represented by State Senator Jason Plummer (R – Edwardsville).

The Illinois Attorney General’s Office reviewed the case, but elected not to pursue charges. However, since the release of multiple affidavits for search warrants pertaining to the case, significant concerns have been raised within the community.

“The information that was made public this week contains extremely concerning accusations. I urge county board chairman Kurt Prenzler to publicly address the accusations made against members of his administration,” said Sen. Plummer. “The public deserves full transparency, and corruption - on any level - cannot and will not be tolerated.”

In response to concerns that have been raised, Sen. Plummer sent a letter to the Illinois Attorney General asking for further information regarding their review of the case.

“Regardless of any further legal action pursued on this matter, elected officials and public servants should be held to a higher standard,” said Sen. Plummer. "If Chairman Prenzler is not willing to transparently and publicly address these issues with immediacy, I call on the members of the Madison County board to take swift action to provide accountability and restore the public trust in their local government. Corruption and unethical behavior at any level can not be tolerated, no matter the person or the party."

Senator Plummer has led the charge in Springfield on issues relating to ethics, sponsoring several bills addressing pay to play politics, conflicts of interest among elected officials, transparency at all levels of government and other issues relating to Illinois' well-deserved reputation as one being one of the most corrupt states in the country.

"No elected official should, in good conscious, be willing to stand by while questions of these allegations remain unanswered. Former Madison County board member Lisa Ciampoli and Madison County treasurer Chris Slusser are true public servants, and I commend them for putting the public first in this matter.”

Original source can be found here.