Sheriff Destroys Files to Evade Public Records Request – Champaign, Illinois
Champaign, Illinois County Sheriff Dustin Heuerman Just months into his first term, which began in 2018, Champaign, Illinois County Sheriff Dustin Heuerman seemingly engaged in a series of unlawful activities regarding free speech and public records laws. In 2019, Check CU Founder Christopher Hansen learned that several County officials, including Sheriff Heuerman, were blocking users and deleting/hiding content on various social media accounts used for public business. Such conduct by public officials on public forums is unconstitutional – decided in the Knight First Amendment Institute v. Trump case, after President Donald Trump blocked members of the public from his Twitter account. In addition to the two or more Champaign County Sheriff social media accounts that were put in place before his first term in office, Heuerman was running at least three other social media accounts which contained public records. Typical posts contained images and descriptions of Heuerman in uniform, in public facilities, performing public duties, during working hours, and were typically posted during working hours. Posts often contained images and descriptions of other public officials, public employees, and related public duties. An official Twitter page managed by Champaign County Sheriff Dustin Heuerman disappeared in 2019 immediately after a public records request asked for lists of blocked users and copies of deleted/hidden content. An official Facebook page managed by Champaign County Sheriff Dustin Heuerman disappeared in 2019 immediately after a public records request asked for lists of blocked users and copies of deleted/hidden content. According to the...
About Check CU
This non-profit site was established to aid in disseminating information about relevant issues in the Champaign-Urbana area. Transparency and access to public records is paramount to functioning government and since the public bodies within CU are failing in that regard, civilians must do the work. If you have files or documents that are of public interest, please consider sending them to Check CU so that we can make them publicly accessible.
-Christopher Hansen, Founder
Latest articles
Police Contracts Still Secretive and Ridden with Violations – Urbana, Illinois
The Urbana City Council once again unanimously voted to move discussions of Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) contracts into a secretive closed session room. Some members of the public who attended tonight’s Council meeting, many of whom attended specifically to...
Voters Given Pizza & Water for Hours-Long Wait at Champaign, IL Polling Location
Some Champaign County residents had to wait up to three hours to cast their votes this evening. Hundreds of voters were made to wait at the University of Illinois Union Building polling location in Urbana. About six hundred feet in length, the line snaked through...
Resident Appeals Housing Discrimination Complaint Denials – Urbana, Illinois
Urbana, Illinois City Administrator Carol Mitten and Human Rights and Equity Officer Carla Boyd have both made strong efforts to deny and conceal discrimination complaints, especially complaints against City employees On August 30th, 2022 a Hearing Body of the Urbana...
Attorney Tom Bruno Confused about Open Meetings Act – Champaign, Illinois
Champaign, Illinois City Council member and licensed attorney Tom Bruno At the July 26th, 2022 meeting of the Champaign City Council, local attorney and Council member Tom Bruno made some blatantly false legal claims regarding the Illinois Open Meetings Act (OMA). A...
James Quisenberry Alludes to Illegal Collusion on Council Votes – Urbana, Illinois
On June 7th, 2022 James Quisenberry said that three no votes to a motion on the day prior appeared to be illegal collusion by City Council members Urbana, Illinois Council member James Quisenberry arrived at a strange conclusion at a City Council meeting in early...
Urbana Mayor Furious that Council Members Vote No on Appointments – Illinois
Urbana, Illinois Mayor Diane Marlin became visibly upset at a recent Council meeting after Council members did not unanimously approve her list of a dozen City officials. The list was presented for a Council vote on June 6th and included two year appointments to...
Urbana Officers Seek Employment With the Illinois State Police
Just over two months ago, Urbana Interim Chief of Police Richard Surles released a statement which revealed that more than ten percent the City’s police officers were looking to apply to the Illinois State Police (ISP). Check CU sent a Freedom of Information Act...
Carol Mitten Rejected by Evanston Council for City Manager Position – Illinois
The Evanston, Illinois City Council went into closed session last night to discuss the potential appointment of Carol Mitten (currently City Administrator for Urbana, IL) to their vacant City Manager position. The Council’s conclusion: We don’t want her. ...
City of Urbana Warns Off Employees with Arrest Records – Illinois
At an Urbana, Illinois City Council meeting, City Administrator Carol Mitten attempts to justify the City’s use of language in their job application process designed to warn certain individuals from applying Despite endless publicity about offering opportunities for...
Evanston Police Complaint Form Violates State Law – Illinois
The Evanston Police Department is imposing police misconduct complaint requirements that quite clearly violate Illinois State law. The complaint forms and related policies and procedures contain provisions that require the complainant to sign a sworn affidavit,...
Victim of Carle Health Abusive Practices? Tell Us About It
Check CU is investigating Carle Health business practices in Champaign, Illinois. We have received tips regarding unethical business practices including abusive treatment of patients, deceptive billing, scheduling practices designed to overbill, and charging for...
Evanston’s “Extraordinary Volume” of Sexual Misconduct Records Quickly Denied – Illinois
The City of Evanston, Illinois is refusing to fulfill a Freedom of Information Act request seeking records of sexual misconduct within the Parks and Recreation Department – a scandal involving female lifeguards and other beach workers that has amassed intense public...
Urbana City Administrator Berates Reporter for Recording Council Meeting – Illinois
Urbana City Administrator Carol Mitten (right) yells at Check CU reporter Christopher Hansen (left) for attempting to audio record an official Urbana City Council meeting. Urbana, Illinois City Administrator Carol Mitten showed flagrant contempt for the people’s right...
Octapharma Plasma Protests Urbana, IL Business Designation
Octapharma Plasma representative Kerry Clish (center) is appealing the business type designation of "clinic", arguing that plasma centers are not similar to other types of clinics. The North Carolina plasma collection business Octapharma Plasma, Inc. has filed a...
Evanston Mayor Argues for Secretive City Manager Search – Illinois
Evanston, Illinois Mayor Daniel Biss made a notable and concerning declaration earlier this month. Biss argued that the City’s search for a new City Manager needed to be as secretive as possible in order to attract a better applicant pool. Though the City...
Rantoul’s Efforts to Dismiss Police Records Lawsuit Rejected by Judge – Champaign County, IL
Rantoul, Illinois Village Attorney David Wesner and Police Chief Tony Brown are not only concealing police misconduct records, they are asking the court to overturn public records laws that have existed for over four decades A Champaign County judge denied an attempt...
Urbana’s History of Ignoring and Concealing Discrimination Complaints
Urbana, Illinois City Administrator Carol Mitten and past City Attorney James Simon have spent part of their careers ensuring that discrimination complaints are never processed by the City After Urbana, Illinois City Administrator Carol Mitten unlawfully overthrew the...
Evanston Residents not Included in City Manager Hiring Decision – Illinois
A number of residents attended the July 18th Evanston, Illinois City Council meeting to speak about the hiring of a new City Manager. After multiple attempts to hire a new City Manager have failed over the past year or more, it seems Evanston officials are...
Latest records
Kalven v City of Chicago, 2014 IL App 1121846 – Police Misconduct Complaints are Not Exempt from FOIA
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Open in new tab Illinois Attorney General Binding Opinion: Complaints Against Public Employees are Not Exempt from FOIA (2021 PAC 69011)
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Illinois Attorney General Binding Opinion: McHenry County Blog Qualifies as News Media for FOIA (2017 PAC 46249)
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2015 PAC 37249 – Request for Review of Danville Housing Task Force FOIA Response
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2018 PAC 53979 – PAC Determination on Request for Review of FOIA Response by City of Crystal Lake Police Department
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