Illinois State’s Attorney Reviewing School District’s P-Card Use

An Illinois school district’s use of purchasing cards (P-cards) has resulted in a potential local state’s attorney’s office investigation.

The Peoria Journal Star reports that State’s Attorney Jerry Brady wants to review School District 150 administrators’ card expenditures. Two retired teachers, Sharon Crews and Terry Knapp, reportedly have been lobbying for an independent investigation of the district administrators’ use of the cards.

In an Aug. 27 letter to the two, Brady said “further review appears warranted,” but he said any further reviews would be up to the district. On Tuesday (Sept. 9), Brady said in the Journal Star article, if the district chooses not to proceed, “I’ve got to make some decisions about whether or not I choose to proceed.”

Peoria police detectives earlier had reviewed thousands of District 150 receipts involving more than 30 district employees going back two years that Crews with Knapp helped to compile through Freedom of Information Act requests, according to in the Journal Star article.

Based on the limited information presented to him, there was no sufficient basis to determine if the spending in question was for District 150’s benefit or was unauthorized spending, Brady said. “That’s consistent throughout the records,” he said. Whether spending was authorized could determine criminal conduct, Brady wrote in the letter. However, failing to follow policies does not rise to the level of criminal conduct, he wrote.

Board President Debbie Wolfmeyer said in the article the review must not have raised any red flags “because neither the police department nor the state’s attorney’s office asked the district for more information.”

“The idea that use of these p-cards constitutes criminal behavior that should be investigated is ridiculous,” District 150 board member Rick Cloyd said in the Journal Star article.