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State's high court to hear appeal of former Pekin mayor

Posted September 26, 2007 11:00 pm

Adriana Colindres

The Illinois Supreme Court agreed on Wednesday to hear the appeal of former Pekin Mayor Lyn Howard, who was forced to resign in 2005 after being convicted of official misconduct.

The misconduct charges related to Howard's use of his city-issued credit card to withdraw about $1,400 to gamble on the Par-A-Dice casino. He later repaid the money.

Neither Gerald Hall, Howard's attorney, nor Tazewell County State's Attorney Stewart Umholtz, who prosecuted Howard, had been officially notified as of Wednesday afternoon that the case would go to the Supreme Court.

"That is so awesome," Hall said. "Wow, that's great."

"I'm very happy to hear that they have decided to take a look at the case," he added. "I think there are some very interesting and important issues that need to be addressed."

In January, the 3rd District Appellate Court upheld Howard's conviction, ruling that he violated provisions of the Illinois Constitution that require public money, property and credit be used only for public purposes.

Howard then turned to the Illinois Supreme Court, which announced Wednesday it would consider his case and about 30 others. They were included in a 68-page document listing more than 500 cases the high court has been asked to review on appeal.

The document states only whether the court will or won't take up a particular case, offering no further explanation. Dates for oral arguments will be set later.

Hall said Howard's appeal to the Supreme Court focuses on a single issue: whether a violation of the Illinois Constitution can be "bootstrapped into the criminal code to create a criminal violation." Howard's position is that should not be permitted, Hall said.

Umholtz has a different view.

"The state Constitution is the one set of laws that the people of the state adopt, and I believe the provision that we relied upon... that public funds, property and credit shall only be used for public purposes, is one of those foundational limitations that people have placed on their government," he said.

"When Mr. Howard used city credit to get cash to gamble, that was a violation of the Constitution. If we can't hold public officials criminally responsible when they use the public resources for personal benefit, that would be a sad commentary on the people's authority."

After being convicted in November 2005 on three counts of official misconduct, Howard was sentenced to 30 months' probation and 100 hours of community service. He also was ordered to attend Gamblers Anonymous meetings.

Adriana Colindres can be reached at (217) 782-6292 or adriana.colindres@sj-r.com.

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