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The governor made his announcement
during a speech to Chicago civic and business leaders, government
reform advocates, and top officials from state agencies covered by
the new Office of Inspector General.
"History has taught us that we cannot
solely rely on our own officials -- elected or appointed -- to
always play by the rules. We need to build more checks and balances
into the system. We need an office to investigate corruption and
root it out," said Blagojevich. "Over the last few months, Z. Scott
has worked to develop the Office of the Inspector General. Starting
today, the Office of the Inspector General is officially open for
business."
Employees in agencies under the
governor's control and members of the general public can call the
office toll-free at (866) 814-1113 or go to its website at
inspectorgeneral.il.gov to report wrongdoing in state
government. All calls are confidential and all allegations will be
investigated.
To encourage cooperation with the
inspector general, the governor signed an executive order in January
that gives whistle-blower protection from intimidation or
retaliation to state employees who provide information to the
inspector general.
Later this fall, Scott's office will
roll out an ethics training program for every employee in an office,
agency or commission under the governor's authority. The program
will be designed to clear up any questions regarding what
constitutes unethical conduct and how to report suspicious behavior.
"With these new reforms, we have begun
putting a firm foundation in place. But we have more to do. We have
to build on that foundation. And to do that, we need cooperation
from our colleagues," Blagojevich added. "I sent the legislature
suggestions for improving the ethics package they passed, and I urge
them to accept my changes."
During the spring legislative session,
the legislature considered a comprehensive ethics reform package
and, ultimately, sent the governor a weakened version of the bill.
In response, Blagojevich issued an amendatory veto that made several
recommendations to strengthen the package, including:
--Creating an independent Ethics
Commission, to be nominated and chosen with the input of every
constitutional officer and legislative leader, that will review and
make recommendations on cases brought by the executive inspector
general.
--Establishing an executive inspector
general to oversee the entire executive branch.
--Establishing an ethics hot line and
ethics training for all employees in the executive branch.
--Tightening ethics rules for elected
officials, such as prohibiting constitutional officers and members
of the General Assembly from using public service announcements to
promote their name or image and eliminating loopholes in the gift
ban act.
--Ending "revolving door" practices by
prohibiting state employees for at least one year after leaving
state employment from taking positions with private entities they
regulated or negotiated with.
"If these suggestions become law,
Illinois would -- for the first time in our history -- have the
safeguards in place that establish rules of conduct and methods of
enforcement, should those rules be broken," said the governor.
The General
Assembly is expected to take action on the governor's amendatory
veto of
HB 3412 during the November veto session.
General information
on the Office of Inspector General
Ensuring
honesty and integrity in state government
Gov. Rod Blagojevich created the Office
of Inspector General in January 2003. The OIG acts as an independent
agency whose function is to investigate fraud and abuse in state
government. Specifically, the Office of Inspector General receives
and investigates complaints of violations of any law, rule or
regulation; abuse of authority; or other forms of misconduct by
officers, employees and appointees of each department, office, board
or commission directly responsible to the governor. The inspector
general reports any findings to the governor and may recommend
measures to prevent the future occurrence of investigated instances
of fraud, abuse or misconduct. The inspector general refers findings
establishing criminal conduct to the appropriate prosecuting
authority.
The Office of Inspector General
recognizes that the majority of state employees and officials are
hardworking and honest individuals. However, when evidence of actual
or apparent impropriety exists in state government, it must be
effectively and objectively dealt with either administratively or
through the court system. It is the goal of the Office of Inspector
General to heighten the trust of Illinoisans in the functions of
state government.
Jurisdiction
The jurisdiction of the Office of
Inspector General extends to the governor, his staff, state
agencies, departments, boards, commissions and any other entities
appointed, employed, controlled, directed or subject to the
authority of the governor. Specifically excluded from the office's
jurisdiction are the Illinois General Assembly, Illinois courts, the
offices of secretary of state, auditor general, treasurer, attorney
general, their staff and employees. As a general rule, the Office of
Inspector General does not become involved in cases involving
private disputes, labor-management issues or litigation. Matters
investigated by the Office of Inspector General may also fall within
the jurisdiction of other agencies (such as law enforcement
investigators, prosecuting authorities and other inspectors
general). In such cases, the inspector general may make a referral
to or work together with other agencies to investigate complaints.
The Office of Inspector General is to
make Illinois government work for everyone.
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Staff
Z. Scott, inspector general --
In April 2003, Gov. Blagojevich appointed Z. Scott as the first
inspector general for the Office of the Governor. Ms. Scott most
recently served as chief of the General Crimes Section in the U.S.
Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois, where she
worked for 16 years as an assistant U.S. attorney and supervisor in
the Criminal Division. Prior to joining that office, she was an
assistant corporation counsel for the city of Chicago. Ms. Scott, a
licensed attorney, is a graduate of Indiana University School of
Law. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of
Illinois in Champaign-Urbana.
Deborah L. Steiner, first deputy
inspector general -- Ms. Steiner joined the Office of Inspector
General in June 2003. Prior to joining the office, she served over
four years as an assistant U.S. attorney with the Criminal Division
of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois.
Ms. Steiner, a licensed attorney, graduated from Cornell Law School
after working for two years with the University of Missouri in
Columbia, Mo., in management and training. She received her
undergraduate degree from Manchester College in Indiana.
William Maloney, director of
investigations
-- Mr. Maloney assumed the position of director of
investigations in June 2003. He has been a supervisor and special
agent with the U.S. Department of Treasury, Internal Revenue
Service, Criminal Investigation Division, where he worked for
approximately 30 years. As an IRS supervisor and special agent, he
participated in the investigation and prosecution of cases that
included criminal tax violations and allegations of money
laundering, fraud, asset forfeiture, public corruption and narcotics
trafficking.
The Office of Inspector General also
employs additional lawyers who assist in the investigations, create
policy for the office and analyze legal matters. The office
investigators are tasked with the investigation of the complaints
that come to the office through the hot line, mailings, faxes or
office visits. Finally, the office is supported by a dedicated and
hardworking administrative staff.
Complaints
Investigations are initiated upon
receipt of a complaint or other information that sets forth
reasonable cause to believe a wrongful act or omission has been
committed by state agencies, officials or employees. Investigations
may also be initiated by the inspector general upon receipt of
credible information received from anonymous sources.
Individuals are welcome to contact the
office with information regarding waste, fraud, corruption and
abuse. It is the office's practice to maintain the names of
complainants in confidence where possible. People may also provide
information anonymously.
The investigations conducted by the
Office of Inspector General are confidential in nature. Neither the
individual who referred the complaint to the OIG nor any member of
the public may obtain information about open, pending or closed
complaints. Confidentiality is at the core of the office, and even
the mere existence of a complaint will not be disclosed until such
time as disclosure may become appropriate.
Because the office conducts its work
confidentially, complainants are not normally apprised of the
progress of investigations or reviews and may not be informed about
the disposition of an investigation or review.
It is the general policy of the office
to neither confirm nor deny the existence of an investigation or
review prior to the disposition of the matter by the inspector
general.
How do I
file a complaint?
You may file a complaint by (1) calling
the office toll-free at (866) 814-1113; (2) sending a letter to
Office of Inspector General, Attention Complaint Division, 32 West
Randolph, Suite 1300, Chicago, IL 60601; (3) faxing a letter to
(312) 814-5479; or (4) visiting the office at the address below to
fill out a complaint form. The complaint form is also available to
print out from
http://www.inspectorgeneral.il.gov/
pdf/IGComplaintForm.pdf. [To download the Adobe Acrobat
reader for the PDF file, click here.]
If the complaint alleges a violation of
law, rule or regulation or fraud, waste, corruption or abuse by an
employee or vendor falling under the governor's jurisdiction, your
complaint will be assigned to an investigator for review. If the
complaint is not made anonymously, you will receive a letter
acknowledging receipt of the complaint. Depending on the nature of
the complaint, it is not likely that you will hear from the office
about the complaint.
The OIG investigates alleged violations
of any law, rule or regulation committed by any state employee
falling under the governor's jurisdiction or companies doing
business with the agencies, boards or commissions of the governor.
That means the office investigates allegations of waste, fraud,
abuse or corruption within the governor's agencies, boards or
commissions and the companies doing business with them.
What
types of complaints does the OIG decline?
The Office of the Inspector General is
not the appropriate forum for complaints related to city or
municipal officials, county officials, or federal officials. The
office also does not investigate complaints related to employees of
the secretary of state, attorney general, comptroller, auditor
general or state treasurer. Finally, the OIG is not equipped to
investigate prisoner complaints that have been adjudicated through
administrative and criminal review channels.
Contact information
Office of Inspector General
32 West Randolph St.
Suite 1300
Chicago, IL 60601
Reception: (312) 814-5600
Hot line: (866) 814-1113
Fax: (312)
814-5479
[Illinois
Government News Network
news release] |
