PROCESSES AND PROCEDURES FOR REPORTING IMPROPER GOVERNMENT RETALIATION AGAINST A WHISTLEBLOWER PURSUANT TO 50 ILCS 105/4.1

Effective July 1, 2021, the Illinois state legislature passed a statute titled “Retaliation Against Whistleblower.” This statute can be found at 50 ILCS 105/4.1. The general purpose of this statute is to prohibit a unit of local government, or agent or representative of that unit of local government, or another employee to retaliate against an employee or contractor who reports certain alleged misconduct by a unit of local government, its agent, representative, or a fellow employee. The state further requires that an “auditing official” be available to receive a report of retaliation. If an organization does not have an internal “auditing official”, the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office is its auditing official. This document lays out the process and procedures used by the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office to respond to an allegation of retaliation under the statute.

PROCESS FOR REPORTING

If you believe that you have been retaliated against and your organization does not have its own auditing official, you can report this to the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office by calling 815-334-4159. Ask for the Chief of the Civil Division and that person will conduct a brief interview and will send you a complaint form, or alternatively set up a meeting where you can come in and fill out the complaint form in person. Once the complaint form is completed, an investigator will be assigned to your case. The investigator may require some additional information from you. It is the State’s Attorney’s goal to complete all investigations within 60 days.

PROCEDURES FOR INVESTIGATION

Once the State’s Attorney’s Office has a completed complaint form from you, an investigator will be assigned to your file and may require additional information from you. The investigator may require documentation from you, and they also may need documentation from whomever you believe has retaliated against you. Acquiring that documentation may be through a simple FOIA request or even a Grand Jury subpoena. This is very fact dependent. The investigator may also interview potential witnesses and persons or entities that have violated this statute. Once all the documentation and necessary interviews have been completed, the investigator will review the case with representatives from both the Civil Division and the Criminal Division of the State’s Attorney’s Office. A decision will jointly be made whether there is or is not a violation of this statute. You will be informed of that decision. If a violation has been found, then a decision will be made whether to pursue civil action or criminal prosecution, or a combination thereof, and you will be informed of those actions as they occur.

The complaint form can be downloaded in PDF format or completed online and automatically transmitted to the State’s Attorney’s Office.