first_published_at,last_published_at,title,slug,latest_revision_created_at,charges,legal_orders,updates,categories,links,equipment_seized,equipment_broken,targeted_journalists,authors,date,exact_date_unknown,city,state,latitude,longitude,body,introduction,teaser,teaser_image,primary_video,image_caption,arrest_status,arresting_authority,release_date,detention_date,unnecessary_use_of_force,case_number,case_statuses,case_type,status_of_seized_equipment,is_search_warrant_obtained,actor,border_point,target_us_citizenship_status,denial_of_entry,stopped_previously,did_authorities_ask_for_device_access,did_authorities_ask_about_work,assailant,was_journalist_targeted,charged_under_espionage_act,subpoena_type,subpoena_statuses,name_of_business,third_party_business,legal_order_target,legal_order_type,legal_order_venue,status_of_prior_restraint,mistakenly_released_materials,type_of_denial,targeted_institutions,tags,target_nationality,workers_whose_communications_were_obtained,politicians_or_public_figures_involved 2023-12-21 16:14:03.699999+00:00,2023-12-21 16:14:03.699999+00:00,Illinois watchdog blog subpoenaed in defamation case; subpoena later withdrawn,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/illinois-watchdog-blog-subpoenaed-in-defamation-case-subpoena-later-withdrawn/,2023-12-21 16:14:03.612171+00:00,,"LegalOrder object (263), LegalOrder object (264)",,Subpoena/Legal Order,,,,,,2023-11-28,False,Belleville,Illinois (IL),38.52005,-89.98399,"
Illinois-based blog Edgar County Watchdogs was subpoenaed on Nov. 28, 2023, for testimony and communications about the parties to a civil defamation case, but the subpoena was subsequently withdrawn on Dec. 20.
The subpoena had been filed with the 20th Circuit Court in St. Clair County by Gerard Scott Jr., the plaintiff in the defamation case. It ordered a representative from the Edgar County Watchdogs, which is based in St. Clair County outside St. Louis, to testify on Jan. 3, 2024, and to bring all written correspondence related to the suit to the hearing.
Edgar County Watchdogs reported that Scott, a Village of Caseyville employee and St. Clair County board member, filed the suit against researcher and blogger Bradley VanHoose.
VanHoose had sought information about an invoice paid by the village for an automobile repair via Freedom of Information Act requests and by asking questions of local officials. VanHoose later informed Edgar County Watchdogs that he believed an employee of the village had used taxpayer funds for repairs on a privately owned vehicle, according to the blog.
Edgar County Watchdogs co-founder and reporter John Kraft initially told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that it would seek to quash the subpoena under the Illinois Reporter’s Privilege Act, which protects reporters’ sources from compelled disclosure.
Before that motion could be filed, the two parties agreed that the subpoena would be withdrawn, Kraft and the plaintiff’s attorney, Douglas Stewart, told the Tracker. Stewart, in an email to Kraft, wrote, “I believe that the information that I seek is readily available from others.”
The subpoena was withdrawn during a Dec. 20 hearing, the blog reported.
The Tracker has documented multiple other subpoenas against Edgar County Watchdogs, most recently in 2020.
A portion of the subpoena demanding Edgar County Watchdogs’ communications and testimony related to a civil defamation case.
",None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,Institution,subpoena,State,None,False,[],Edgar County Watchdogs,,,, 2020-04-15 15:57:09.851657+00:00,2020-04-17 14:03:58.611884+00:00,"Illinois mayor threatens journalist for taking pictures, video on public street",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/illinois-mayor-threatens-journalist-taking-pictures-video-public-street/,2020-04-17 14:03:58.493801+00:00,,,,Chilling Statement,,,,John Kraft (Edgar County Watchdogs),,2020-03-26,False,Bellmont,Illinois (IL),None,None,"The mayor of an Illinois village threatened a reporter with assault and called the local sheriff to intervene in newsgathering on March 26, 2020.
Journalist John Kraft, co-founder of state government watchdog blog Edgar County Watchdogs, was notified by residents in Bellmont, Illinois, that Mayor Gary Lance had been recorded allegedly using the village tractor to gravel a parking area in front of his personal residence, which would violate laws barring the use of town property for personal purposes.
Kraft told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he attempted to call Lance multiple times for comment concerning the allegations, and that Lance returned his calls on the morning of March 26.
According to an account of the call published by Edgar County Watchdogs, they spoke about the use of the tractor, which Lance refused to admit belonged to the village. Lance hung up on Kraft then called back soon after to ask for Kraft’s name, telling the reporter that his actions were “none of [his] business.”
Before hanging up again, Lance told Kraft that if the reporter contacted him again he would pursue harassment charges.
“I considered that conversation an invitation to drive to Bellmont and see the new gravel driveway for myself,” Kraft wrote.
Kraft told the Tracker that as he was taking photos and video of the driveway from a public road, Lance drove up and stopped next to his truck. Lance told him to leave or he’d call the Wabash County sheriff.
“I’m not going to move along,” Kraft can be heard saying in a video of the interaction. “Go ahead, I’ll wait right here for [the sheriff]. 911 is their number.”
Lance says, “Maybe I ought to get out and just whip your ass,” to which Kraft responds, “Go ahead and try it.”
Lance then told the reporter that he is “worthless.” Kraft responds, “You’re the one that is.”
Wabash County Sheriff Derek Morgan told the Tracker that the sheriff’s deputy who went to the scene told Lance that Kraft was within his rights to photograph in a public place. Shortly after speaking with the deputy himself, Kraft left the scene.
Lance declined to comment to the Tracker.
On March 31, Lance filed requests for restraining orders against five village residents — including a village trustee — who he alleged were stalking him by taking video of him graveling his driveway and posting the footage online.
Sheriff Morgan confirmed to the Tracker that Lance did not request a restraining order against Kraft.
Reporter John Kraft captures video of a sheriff's deputy interacting with the mayor of Bellmont, Illinois, who had wanted the reporter removed. The sheriff's deputy confirmed that Kraft was within his rights.
",None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,,,,, 2020-04-10 15:54:36.783318+00:00,2020-04-10 15:54:36.783318+00:00,Illinois county drops subpoena for government watchdog’s communications,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/illinois-county-drops-subpoena-for-government-watchdogs-communications/,2020-04-10 15:54:36.683295+00:00,,LegalOrder object (93),,Subpoena/Legal Order,,,,,,2020-03-25,False,Effingham County,Illinois (IL),None,None,"Illinois-based government watchdog blog Edgar County Watchdogs received a second subpoena for communications and documents relating to articles involving an ambulance service operating in Effingham County, Illinois, on March 25, 2020.
Edgar County Watchdogs received the first subpoena as part of a federal civil rights lawsuit brought by Lakeside EMS, LLC, against the county in August 2019. That lawsuit was dismissed in September pending the results of a state case brought against the ambulance service by Effingham County. As a result, the subpoena was dropped.
The most recent subpoena was filed as part of the state suit, and is identical to the first: It orders the Edgar County Watchdogs to produce communications or documents exchanged with Lakeside CEO Jerrod Estes, as well as any “employee or agent” of Lakeside or the county. It also orders the turnover of copies of articles written or generated relating to Effingham County, county Board Chairman Jim Niemann or Lakeside.
Edgar County Watchdogs co-founder and reporter John Kraft told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that they planned to contest the subpoena under Illinois’ reporter’s privilege law.
Kirk Allen, the blog’s other co-founder and reporter, told the Tracker in September 2019 that Edgar County Watchdogs had been pursuing a Freedom of Information Act violation claim against the county for two years, pressing for the release of documents related to the ambulance service investigation.
Attorneys for Effingham County Philip Lading and Zachary Merkle did not respond to requests for comment.
According to emails reviewed by the Tracker, the county’s attorneys dropped the subpoena without prejudice on April 7, after the blog’s lawyer informed them that they had not complied with the “special witness” doctrine. The doctrine requires that the party seeking testimony must first state the specific testimony the reporter is expected to give and demonstrate how it is not only relevant, but necessary to the party’s case.
The Tracker has documented multiple other subpoenas against Edgar County Watchdogs in 2019, including a subpoena for their communications and documents relating to the College of DuPage and multiple subpoenas for the group’s Dropbox contents. While the latter two were dropped in February and July 2019, a motion to quash the former is still pending.
A portion of the subpoena demanding work product from Edgar County Watchdogs
,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,False,journalist communications or work product,['DROPPED'],None,None,Institution,None,State,None,False,None,Edgar County Watchdogs,,,, 2020-02-26 18:41:35.766135+00:00,2023-07-05 18:35:28.807069+00:00,"Subpoena issued for watchdog blog’s documents, communications",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/subpoena-issued-for-watchdog-blogs-documents-communications/,2023-07-05 18:35:28.689783+00:00,,LegalOrder object (88),,Subpoena/Legal Order,,,,,,2020-02-07,False,Stark County,Illinois (IL),None,None,"Illinois-based government watchdog blog Edgar County Watchdogs was subpoenaed on Feb. 7, 2020, for documents and communications relating to coverage of the Stark County board and sheriff.
Former Stark County Board Vice-Chairman Fulvio Zerla brought a lawsuit against the county and Sheriff Steve Sloan, accusing Sloan of violating his civil rights. The county is part of the larger Peoria metropolitan area.
Zerla’s complaint, which was reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, also alleges that Sloan paid Edgar County Watchdogs to attend a board meeting in June 2017 to “disrupt” the proceedings.
Edgar County Watchdogs co-founder John Kraft flatly denied Zerla’s accusations and that they had been paid at any time.
“All we did was attend the meeting and we bring our video camera with us everywhere we go,” Kraft told the Tracker. “We attended the meeting and we told the board that they didn’t comply with the Illinois county code requirement to post about the meeting in the newspaper, and the sheriff came and shut the meeting down.”
The subpoena orders Edgar County Watchdogs to produce documents, notes, photographs and communications relating to three board meetings in mid-2017, the Sheriff Department’s budget, plaintiff Zerla, former board Chairwoman Coleen Magnussen and defendant Sloan.
Zerla’s attorney did not immediately respond to the Tracker’s request for comment.
Kraft told the Tracker that their attorney is filing for an extension on the Feb. 27 deadline for producing the documents, and they intend to fight the production of any documents.
The Tracker has documented multiple other subpoenas involving Edgar County Watchdogs, including a subpoena for their communications and documents relating to the College of DuPage and two subpoenas for the group’s Dropbox contents.
A portion of the subpoena requesting communication from the Illinois watchdog group Edgar County Watchdogs
",None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,False,journalist communications or work product,['PENDING'],None,None,Institution,subpoena,Federal,None,False,None,Edgar County Watchdogs,,,, 2019-09-18 17:07:40.585091+00:00,2023-07-05 18:33:01.827019+00:00,Subpoenas seeking Illinois-based government watchdog’s communications and documents dropped,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/subpoenas-seeking-illinois-based-government-watchdogs-communications-and-documents-dropped/,2023-07-05 18:33:01.716328+00:00,,LegalOrder object (69),,Subpoena/Legal Order,,,,Kirk Allen (Edgar County Watchdogs),,2019-08-27,False,Effingham County,Illinois (IL),None,None,"Illinois-based government watchdog blog Edgar County Watchdogs and its co-founder and reporter, Kirk Allen, received subpoenas for communications and documents relating to articles involving an ambulance service operating in Effingham County, Illinois.
As part of a federal civil rights lawsuit brought by Lakeside EMS, LLC, against the county, the two Aug. 27, 2019, subpoenas ordered Edgar County Watchdogs and Allen to produce communications or documents exchanged with Lakeside CEO Jerrod Estes, as well as with any “employee or agent” of Lakeside or the county. They also order the turnover of copies of articles written or generated relating to Effingham County, county Board Chairman Jim Niemann or Lakeside.
“We wrote several articles about the process which the county used to award the contract to the current emergency service provider: it was done without putting it up for bid and board members have believed conflicts of interest because they have family members working there,” co-founder John Kraft told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. “So, basically they’re asking for all of our sources and the information we gave back-and-forth.”
Allen, who wrote many of the articles, told the Tracker that the only documents he has that fall under the subpoena are ones he received from Effingham County through public records requests.
“They know exactly what I got from the county because I FOIA’ed it. So, why did they waste my time with a subpoena for records they already gave me?” Allen said. “It’s their way of trying to create a legal burden on us as well, because there’s no reason for that subpoena.”
Allen also noted that Edgar County Watchdogs has been pursuing a Freedom of Information Act violation claim against the county for nearly two years, pressing for the release of documents related to the ambulance service investigation.
The subpoenas ordered the documents produced by Sept. 16, but Kraft told the Tracker that the group’s attorney, government transparency and media lawyer Matt Topic, filed for an extension of 30 days on compliance.
The federal case was dismissed without prejudice on Sept. 11 by U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Illinois Nancy Rosenstengel, and as a result the subpoenas were dropped.
Bryan Kibler, the state attorney representing Effingham County, told the Tracker that the case was dismissed pending the results of the state case involving the ambulance service and the county. Kibler said that he would not rule out refiling the subpoenas against the Edgar County Watchdogs and Allen if necessary in the future.
The Tracker has documented multiple other subpoenas against Edgar County Watchdogs in 2019, including a subpoena for their communications and documents relating to the College of DuPage and a subpoena for the group’s Dropbox contents. A motion to quash the former is still pending and the latter was quashed on Feb. 11.
A portion of a subpoena received by Edgar County Watchdogs for reporting materials
",None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,False,journalist communications or work product,['DROPPED'],None,None,Journalist,subpoena,Federal,None,False,None,Edgar County Watchdogs,,,, 2020-02-25 21:23:39.708099+00:00,2020-02-25 21:23:39.708099+00:00,Second subpoena issued for content of Illinois watchdog’s Dropbox account,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/second-subpoena-issued-for-content-of-illinois-watchdogs-dropbox-account/,2020-02-25 21:23:39.643943+00:00,,LegalOrder object (45),"(2019-07-10 16:08:00+00:00) Judge quashes subpoena for third-party work product, citing the state's reporter's privilege",Subpoena/Legal Order,,,,,,2019-02-22,False,Algonquin Township,Illinois (IL),None,None,"A lawyer representing Algonquin Township, Illinois, filed a second subpoena to compel the file-hosting service Dropbox to produce information on an account belonging to the Edgar County Watchdogs, an Illinois-based government watchdog blog.
The subpoena, issued on Feb. 22, 2019, requested much of the same information as the first subpoena filed in January — the content, IP and email addresses of all users, users’ access histories, payment information and comments of the account.
The outlet is currently suing Algonquin Township for failing to provide records in response to 16 different public records requests, and the subpoena was issued in the context of that lawsuit.
Edgar County Watchdogs reported it filed a motion to quash the subpoena, which was heard in March.
“Illinois law protects media and reporters from things like this, but the Township Board has decided to keep piling on and incurring more legal bills,” blog co-founder John Kraft wrote. “Not just their own legal bills, but the township will also pay our legal bills when they lose this FOIA lawsuit.”
In March, a McHenry County Court judge granted a stay in the production of the requested materials until a ruling could be made on the motion to quash, Edgar County Watchdogs reported. The judge also confirmed that the first subpoena was quashed.
Edgar County Watchdogs shared court documents with the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that show the motion to quash was denied on April 16, but the outlet filed a motion for the judge to reconsider.
Kraft told the Tracker that the subpoenas would have a serious impact on the outlet if it weren’t for the support of other organizations, like the Press Freedom Defense Fund.
“We do not have the money to hire an attorney and do the paperwork to fight these subpoenas. Without these grants we wouldn’t be able to do it,” Kraft said. “We’d have to roll over and give them what they ask for.”
A portion of a subpoena for the Edgar County Watchdog's Dropbox account information
,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,False,journalist communications or work product,['QUASHED'],Dropbox,tech company,Third-party,subpoena,State,None,False,None,Edgar County Watchdogs,,,, 2019-04-12 17:00:16.940403+00:00,2023-04-04 13:27:08.122385+00:00,Subpoena issued for Illinois-based government watchdog’s communications,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/subpoena-issued-illinois-based-government-watchdogs-communications/,2023-04-04 13:27:08.010087+00:00,,LegalOrder object (44),,Subpoena/Legal Order,,,,,,2019-02-19,False,Glen Ellyn,Illinois (IL),41.87753,-88.06701,"Illinois-based government watchdog blog Edgar County Watchdogs has been subpoenaed for communications and documents relating to articles involving College of DuPage, a community college in Illinois.
As part of a civil lawsuit brought by former College of DuPage president Robert Breuder against the college, the Feb. 19, 2019, subpoena ordered Edgar County Watchdogs to produce communications between co-founders of the group, Kirk Allen and John Kraft, and numerous other entities including news organizations the Daily Herald and Chicago Tribune. It also orders the group to turn over copies of relevant Freedom of Information Act requests and records received.
“We wrote a lot of articles on the College DuPage and the former president and contractors, as well as change orders that were made without proper board approval and crazy expenses by the college president,” Kraft told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. “[Breuder] is suing the board members of the college for various civil rights violations, like his age and alleging lack of due process. They are working through discovery, and they’re trying to get communications between us, the board of the college, and various media outlets.”
Kraft noted that the FOIA requests and responsive records — which comprise thousands of pages — are already public records, so it isn’t necessary to order the group to produce them. “They can get them from the college,” he said.
The subpoena ordered the documents produced by April 1, but Kraft said that with the help of the group’s attorney, government transparency and media lawyer Matt Topic, they had secured an extension on compliance.
Topic confirmed that the group was granted an extension until May 1 to respond to the subpoena, and that that they will be opposing the order.
“[The subpoena] makes us spend time, money, and effort fighting this, instead of writing like we should be doing,” Kraft said.
Attorneys for Breuder did not immediately respond to request for comment.
In an unrelated case, Edgar County Watchdogs received a subpoena on Jan. 23 for information relating to the group’s Dropbox. The motion to quash that subpoena was granted on Feb. 11.
A portion of the subpoena for communications from Edgar County Watchdogs.
",None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,False,journalist communications or work product,['PENDING'],None,None,Institution,None,State,None,False,None,Edgar County Watchdogs,,,, 2019-02-26 17:00:02.210369+00:00,2023-03-31 23:11:58.188281+00:00,Subpoena issued for contents of Illinois government watchdog’s Dropbox account,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/subpoena-issued-contents-illinois-government-watchdogs-dropbox-account/,2023-03-31 23:11:58.094890+00:00,,LegalOrder object (42),,Subpoena/Legal Order,,,,,,2019-01-23,False,Algonquin Township,Illinois (IL),None,None,"A lawyer representing Algonquin Township, Illinois, subpoenaed Dropbox to compel the California-based tech company to produce information about an account belonging to the Edgar County Watchdogs, an Illinois-based government watchdog blog.
The subpoena, issued on Jan. 23, 2019, requested detailed information about a Dropbox folder belonging to the watchdog group titled “Algonquin Township,” including content, IP and email addresses of all users, payment information, and comments.
John Kraft, one of the co-founders of Edgar County Watchdogs, found the request alarming. “In our opinion they are trying to chill public speaking. If they were successful, sources would be reluctant to contact reporters or fear they should be outed with a subpoena,” Kraft told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
In their emergency motion to quash, the lawyer for Edgar County Watchdogs, Denise M. Ambroziak, wrote that the subpoena both “violates the reporter’s privilege” and “lacks relevance to the subject matter of the FOIA suit, is outside of the scope, and fails to comply with local rules.”
Edgar County Watchdogs is currently suing Algonquin Township for failing to provide records in response to 16 different public records requests, and the subpoena was issued in the context of that lawsuit. “Instead of just answering our FOIA requests they’re spending all this money to try and find out who is feeding us information,” Kraft said.
Ambroziak argued in the motion that Algonquin Township had not met the threshold to divest reporter’s privilege. Under Illinois law, the party seeking to do so must prove such information being sought would be relevant to the proceeding, that such information is in the public interest, and that they have exhausted all other means of obtaining that information. “There is no public interest supported by disclosing the contents of the Plaintiff’s Dropbox Account other than to simply go on an improper fishing expedition for some undisclosed and unknown reason,” the motion continues.
Neither Kraft nor his attorney received a copy of the subpoena via electronic or postal mail, and did not become aware of its existence until a third party provided it to them on Feb. 8, according to the motion. Also on that day, James Kelly, the lawyer for Algonquin Township, wrote a letter to the lawyer for Edgar County Watchdogs stating that the subpoena was “rejected and cannot be served,” and so there was no need to file the emergency motion to quash the subpoena. They opted to file the motion anyway, and it was granted on Feb. 11, according to Kraft and an article in the Cook County Record.
Kelly and Township Clerk Karen Lukasik did not return multiple requests for comment.
Edgar County Watchdogs is a investigative blog based in southern Illinois that focuses on local government transparency. According to the National Review, the investigative work conducted by Kraft and co-founder Kirk Allen has resulted in "seven ongoing federal investigations."
A portion of the subpoena from Algonquin Township, Illinois, to Dropbox for access to the contents of a folder belonging to Edgar County Watchdogs.
An attorney for Algonquin Township, Illinois, sent a letter to YouTube in March 2018 demanding that a video posted by Edgar County Watchdogs, a government watchdog group, be removed from the video-sharing site.
The fifteen-minute video, posted to YouTube on Jan. 15, 2018, shows Karen Lukasik, the Algonquin Township clerk and custodian of public records, inside the Algonquin Township Supervisor’s Office, where she rummages through files and documents, taking photos of some of them with her phone. Another woman in the video, Jennifer Curtiss, a trustee with the Village of Fox River Grove, asks the clerk, “Karen, do you have the authority to be going through this stuff?” prompting Lukasik to respond, “I can do whatever I want.”
The video was filmed on a Nest camera hidden in a bookshelf in the Township Supervisor’s Office and shared via a flash drive mailed anonymously to the Edgar County Watchdogs, a blog that posts responses to Freedom of Information Act requests filed with various government bodies around the state of Illinois.
The attorney for Algonquin Township, James Kelly, claimed the video violated “court orders” and “certain privacy rights” in his letter to YouTube dated March 16, 2018. “The video was unlawfully removed from the Township and turned over to a third party. This video may violate the individuals [sic] privacy rights,” Kelly wrote.
Kelly provided YouTube with two protective orders a judge signed in Gasser v. Lukasik, a separate lawsuit involving the township clerk, in June and November of 2017. The court orders appointed a receiver to recover video camera footage and copy machine hard drives from the Algonquin Township building, and barred distribution of that material beyond the attorneys and parties to the lawsuit.
“This is clearly attempted censorship,” John Kraft, one of the co-founders of Edgar County Watchdogs, wrote in a blog post. “We were not party to the lawsuit that dealt with sealing these documents,” Kraft told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. Kraft also maintained that the order did not prevent the video footage from being disclosed under Illinois public records laws.
The video is still on YouTube as of press time.
"When the media lawfully obtains information that is truthful and newsworthy, it has the right to publish that information absent extraordinary circumstances,” Sarah Matthews, a staff attorney with the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. (Full disclosure: Matthews is on the steering committee for the Tracker.)
Kraft said he found out about the letter sent to YouTube demanding the removal of the video via a tip and then by reviewing Kelly's legal bills submitted to the township. Those bills also indicated YouTube had sent a letter in response to Kelly’s takedown request. Kraft said he submitted public records requests for YouTube’s response to Kelly but has not received it.
Edgar County Watchdogs is currently suing Algonquin Township for not producing documents in response to 16 different FOIA requests.
Multiple requests for comment—and a request to review YouTube’s reply to the takedown request—sent to Kelly and Lukasik were not answered.
A video of public officials filmed via a hidden camera was sent to Edgar County Watchdogs anonymously.