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Sheriff uses county stationery to urge vote against Supreme Court Justice Kilbride

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Illinois

* A reader today sent me this mailer she recently received from her county sheriff. The return address is the same as the Stark County Sheriff’s office in Toulon. The email the sheriff uses in the letter matches the one on his official website and he admits below that this is official stationery…

1) Applette? Aside from the multiple typos in the letter, Justice Thomas Kilbride is running for retention on the Illinois Supreme Court. The Illinois Republican Party has made defeating Kilbride a top priority this year.

2) What the heck is Sheriff Sloan doing sending a political mailer on official stationery with that official return address?

Here’s our email exchange today…

Did your office send this mailer? It has your office’s return address. Were taxpayer resources used?

Yes I sent it

Yes I’m paying for it out of my pocket

Was this on county stationery?

Yes, it was. It was on a piece of paper with my letter head

So, did you reimburse the county?

Yes. I an on it I’m at a conference right now

Um.

posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Aug 25, 20 @ 1:13 pm

Comments

My guess is the Sheriff was approached by someone (Maybe the local party?) about writing a letter against Kirkbride, and having never done anything like that before, just used his official role to do so. Amateur hour.

Comment by CubsFan16 Tuesday, Aug 25, 20 @ 1:17 pm
Just a microcosm of the general attitude in sheriffs offices around the state, with few exceptions.

They’ve been ‘deciding what laws to enforce’, especially around the pandemic.

If the sheriff decided to illegally use these resources, why would the sheriff also think anyone would enforce the laws?

Sheriffs like this see themselves as judge and jury. It’s an attitude that needs to be addressed in law enforcement across the board before it grows into what should be the obvious and horrible outcome.

Comment by TheInvisibleMan Tuesday, Aug 25, 20 @ 1:20 pm
Who’s attending a conference during a pandemic?

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Aug 25, 20 @ 1:20 pm
OW, possibly some sort of press conference?

To the post: amateur hour for this sheriff. Guessing it was also done on paid time as well as everything else wrong here.

Comment by Fixer Tuesday, Aug 25, 20 @ 1:22 pm
CubsFan76 - I would agree with you except the Sheriff is presumably a smart law enforcement official. It would have taken an ordinary person 5 seconds to realize this is wrong; a sheriff should have known instantly this was an absolute mistake.

Next question: How did they get the Sheriff obtain the addresses of the people it was sent? Did he walk down the hall to the county clerk and copy/paste the voter registration drive?

Question after that: Did Sheriff employees help stuff the envelopes during work hours?

Comment by Just Me 2 Tuesday, Aug 25, 20 @ 1:23 pm
A sheriff who doesn’t know that law - not shocking.

Put aside the defamatory tone of the letter, it’s plain wrong. Madigan sponsored the pension bill that the Supreme Court unanimously struck down, so I doubt he was thrilled when the court invalidated it. The rulings in the term limits case and the redistricting case were based on precedent.

Comment by southsider Tuesday, Aug 25, 20 @ 1:28 pm
If that’s all you got against Kilbride, the letter isn’t worth the taxpayer funded paper it’s written on.

Comment by southsider Tuesday, Aug 25, 20 @ 1:29 pm
What does one do when the chief legal police officer in a County violates the law?

Comment by Almost retired Tuesday, Aug 25, 20 @ 1:33 pm
What an odd thing.

Odd as… a sheriff, lone in this writing, decides, on official letterhead, to write… whatever… with all that’s happening in the world, let alone the politics.

It’s so randomly… random.

It’s also August, and factoring in early voting too, and mail in voting… who is going to remember the sheriff, on that letterhead… wrote… whatever it is he wrote.

Was he bored and wanted to get a jump on correspondences?

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Aug 25, 20 @ 1:34 pm
Mistakes were made

Comment by Rabid Tuesday, Aug 25, 20 @ 1:36 pm
Example A for why county consolidation makes sense.

Comment by Chicagonk Tuesday, Aug 25, 20 @ 1:40 pm
Welcome to Stark County folks……..

Comment by fyredog Tuesday, Aug 25, 20 @ 1:53 pm
Sent with his own personal postage meter too, apparently

Comment by Mrsfloyddog Tuesday, Aug 25, 20 @ 1:54 pm
This isn’t a police chief or someone in an appointed position. Sheriff’s run for office. You would have a basic understanding of using resources to support a candidate.

Comment by Cool Papa Bell Tuesday, Aug 25, 20 @ 1:56 pm
What can go awry when those charged with enforcing law are ignorant of the laws?…keep watching.

Comment by Dotnonymous Tuesday, Aug 25, 20 @ 1:56 pm
Waiting for the sheriff to call any attacks a “witch hunt”.

Comment by don the legend Tuesday, Aug 25, 20 @ 1:59 pm
“I’m at a conference right now”

Let me guess, an ethics conference?

Comment by Leigh John-Ella Tuesday, Aug 25, 20 @ 2:00 pm
Ask Jim Nowlan to go over to Courthouse and explain to the Sheriff the error of his ways.

Comment by Suburbanon Tuesday, Aug 25, 20 @ 2:03 pm
=Example A for why county consolidation makes sense.=

Example 9746 of why we shouldn’t *elect* law enforcement

Comment by Joe Bidenopolous Tuesday, Aug 25, 20 @ 2:05 pm
Reminds me of the time I got a birthday card from my state rep Mellisa Conyers-Earvin that had a label with her info for the return address. Under the label was her husband’s aldermanic name/title/city hall address. She was using city of Chicago envelopes. Don’t know what ticked me off more, that or the fact she has someone looking up birthdates.

Comment by BigLou Tuesday, Aug 25, 20 @ 2:05 pm
From 2017 Fulvio Zerla v Stark Co and Steve Sloan

http://www.starkcountyillinois.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Fulvio-Zerla-Plaintiff-vs.-Stark-County-Illinois-Steve-Sloan-in-his-Individual-and-Official-Capacity.pdf

Comment by Cool Papa Bell Tuesday, Aug 25, 20 @ 2:06 pm
“Personal stationery? We don’t need no stinkin’ personal stationery.”

Comment by Streator Curmudgeon Tuesday, Aug 25, 20 @ 2:10 pm
Almost retired

At one point in the past only the Coroner could arrest the Sheriff. Perhaps the State’s Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor could investigate?

Comment by Anyone Remember Tuesday, Aug 25, 20 @ 2:13 pm
===only the Coroner could arrest the Sheriff===

Tom Dart told me this a few years ago, and then pointed out that Cook County has no coroner.

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Aug 25, 20 @ 2:14 pm
Mistakes? This is a violation of the Election Code and the Ethics Act (Art. 70) and local ordinances.

Comment by Socially DIstant Watcher Tuesday, Aug 25, 20 @ 2:14 pm
This guy is a story. He was appointed by the County Board Chair, then turned on her for cutting the budget.

https://www.pjstar.com/news/20170607/tension-escalates-between-stark-county-sheriff-and-board-chairwoman

https://www.pjstar.com/news/20170927/stark-county-may-borrow-to-meet-sheriffs-payroll

Comment by Live Wire Tuesday, Aug 25, 20 @ 2:16 pm
I love it when country folk tell me about “Chicago corruption”.

Comment by JS Mill Tuesday, Aug 25, 20 @ 2:17 pm
Trying to figure out how Justice Kilbride rejected term limits citizen initiative in 1994 when he wasn’t even on the Supreme Court. He wasn’t even a judge in 1994.

Comment by Steve Rogers Tuesday, Aug 25, 20 @ 2:27 pm
Looking forward to the sheriff self-reporting this violation.

Also looking forward to Rep. Wherli and the GOP reform crew denouncing this culture of corruption in Stark County.

Comment by Leigh John-Ella Tuesday, Aug 25, 20 @ 2:34 pm
All of the abuses of taxpayer resources, money, and time aside, what kind of distress did getting an official-looking unexpected letter in the mail from the local Sheriff cause some of the recipients?

Comment by Ron Burgundy Tuesday, Aug 25, 20 @ 2:36 pm
Because Madigan, of course.

Comment by pool boy Tuesday, Aug 25, 20 @ 2:39 pm
Not that policy is driving this but that pension ruling was unanimous. Swapping Kilbride out won’t change anything.

Comment by Strategy Geek Tuesday, Aug 25, 20 @ 2:42 pm
Cool Papa Bell -

Will Sheriff Sloan’s allies in the lawsuit call him out on the letter? Who are they? They share a name with a former Illinois governor who made a statement on the fall presidential election.

Comment by Anyone Remember Tuesday, Aug 25, 20 @ 2:58 pm
I have never known a Sheriff that wanted pension reform.

I wonder if he is in a pension plan.

Comment by Live Wire Tuesday, Aug 25, 20 @ 3:03 pm
If you are going to publish public officials using resources for campaigns, you are not going to get much else done for the next 75 days.

I see this from both sides. Even after bringing it to the campaigns attention, some people still blow it off.

Comment by the Patriot Tuesday, Aug 25, 20 @ 3:06 pm
I’ve known Steve Sloan for 30 years. He was never like this pre2016. I’m just about speechless.

Comment by Ducky LaMoore Tuesday, Aug 25, 20 @ 3:08 pm
People at the White House violate the Hatch Act daily without any consequences. I’m sure their followers are feeling emboldened.

Comment by Highland Il Tuesday, Aug 25, 20 @ 3:10 pm
Cue the banjos…
But seriously - if he had any integrity, such blatant disregard for right and wrong, let alone the law, would lead him to resign.

Comment by Nobody Sent Tuesday, Aug 25, 20 @ 3:26 pm
===Sent with his own personal postage meter too, apparently===

It should possible to scan that QR code and determine who pays to refill the meter.

Comment by Proud Sucker Tuesday, Aug 25, 20 @ 3:27 pm
I feel like the GOP chairperson put Sheriff Sloan up to this. There was a private meeting a couple weeks ago w Rep LaHood in stark county that was not advertised. Pics posted by LaHood showed only republicans in attendance. I’’d bet this letter writing was discussed. Seems like dirty politics.

Comment by Facts matter. Tuesday, Aug 25, 20 @ 3:29 pm
This reckless criminal needs to be tried and convicted to the fullest extent of the law to set an example to prevent folks from doing this again.

Comment by Candy Dogood Tuesday, Aug 25, 20 @ 3:41 pm
I trust the good sheriff did his legal research, and Kilbride was the deciding vote in each instance.

You don’t need to have the merits on your side, when you have buzz words like term limits, pension reform, and citizen initiative.

Comment by Langhorne Tuesday, Aug 25, 20 @ 4:12 pm
Anyone Remember/thank you

Comment by Almost retired Tuesday, Aug 25, 20 @ 4:28 pm
Well there is a county and a whole layer of law enforcement that can be eliminated.

Comment by Not a Billionaire Tuesday, Aug 25, 20 @ 7:23 pm
Howdy, Sheriff. Campaign much?

Comment by XonXoff Tuesday, Aug 25, 20 @ 8:42 pm