Shelby Co., Ill. (ECWd) –
We attended the June 11, 2026, Shelby County Board Meeting (see video below).
During the meeting, we noticed there was still no discussion about the Ethics Commission who should have met months ago to hear multiple ethics complaints lodged against the chairman.
Also, Board Member Teresa Boehm told the board (start watching at the 18:30 mark in the below video) that the Circuit Clerk, Peter Otis, had used the public credit card of the Circuit Clerk’s office for unauthorized purchases, which included a $175.00 charge for his wife to attend a conference with him. Otis, according to Boehm, failed to submit the credit card invoice or statement to the finance committee for their May 2026 meeting. He did submit a “paid” invoice or receipt for the June 2026 meeting – he paid the credit card bill with the circuit clerk’s operations account. Boehm asked him for the actual statement and invoices, which he later provided, and on that statement was a charge for attending a conference in April 2026. On the invoice for the conference was a charge of $175.00 for “spouse/guest registration.”
The payment for his wife to attend the conference should never have happened, as it violates the county travel ordinance, which states expenses for spouses will not be paid using public funds (along with violating certain state statutes and the Illinois Constitution).
We agree.
This is simply one more example of why the Circuit Clerks, Probation Officers, and all other Judicial Branch entities should fall under the Freedom of Information Act for their department’s financial transactions.
