By Neil Doyle and Howard Packowitz

BLOOMINGTON – The McLean County Ethics Commission has referred to the state’s attorney’s office a complaint accusing County Clerk Kathy Michael of using public resources for campaign activities and intentionally destroying evidence.

However, McLean County State’s Attorney Don Knapp issued a statement late Monday afternoon indicating he’ll ask the chief judge to appoint the Appellate Prosecutor’s office as a special prosecutor to investigate Michael.

The state’s attorney office is considered the county’s government lawyer, including the county clerk. That association might be perceived as a conflict of interest.

Earlier on Monday, the three-member ethics commission, led by Herman Brandau, met in a closed session for a little more than two hours to discuss how to handle the matter.

“If the devices were used for campaigning there would be a violation…we had a couple incidents were if true they could be,” said Brandau.

The complaint filed by Sarah Lindenbaum accuses Michael of using a county-owned laptop for campaign activities then damaging the device to cover up using the laptop for political purposes.

County clerk’s office employee Denise Cesario told the commission in the public portion of the hearing that the laptop wasn’t damaged intentionally.   According to Cesario, Michael was working at home and left the laptop outside as it was damaged by rain.

The commission also found that it did not have jurisdiction to rule on the portion of the complaint dealing with a criminal charge damaging state property.

Michael did not attend Monday’s commission meeting.

Neil Doyle can be reached at [email protected]

Howard Packowitz can be reached at [email protected]