January 22, 2026
JASPER COUNTY BOARD STATEMENT
REGARDING UNLAWFUL DELETION OF PUBLIC RECORDS
The Jasper County Board is issuing this statement to address the deletion of the video recording
of the open session from the duly convened county board meeting that took place on January 15th
,
2026.
Following an internal review, the Board has determined that the official public video recording of
the aforementioned open session meeting was intentionally and permanently deleted from the
Jasper County website and County Zoom account by the County Clerk without authorization and
outside of any approved records retention process. This deletion was admitted by the Clerk to not
be accidental and was done outside lawful records management procedure. According to the Clerk,
the deletion occurred because she had made a statement during the Board Meeting, that was
recorded, which she considered personally embarrassing. As is the procedure, the video of the
board meeting was uploaded to the county website for public viewing. The next day, January 16th
,
the Clerk accessed the Zoom website via her shared account with the Board and permanently
deleted the video. No Jasper County Board member was made aware of this action before it
occurred, and board members were only notified upon the realization that the video was no longer
available on the county website.
The County Board takes the preservation of lawfully protected public records and government
transparency seriously. Open session recordings are considered public records, and their integrity
is essential to maintaining public trust. The Board is taking appropriate steps to address this
incident, including ensuring the Clerk understands state records retention laws and implementing
additional safeguards to prevent unauthorized deletion of public records.
The Jasper County Board regrets that this incident occurred and remains committed to
transparency, accountability, and adherence to Illinois law.
Jasper County Building 204 W Washington Street, Suite 2 Newton, Illinois 62448
Jasper County Board Members
Jason Warfel (Chairman) – Ron Heltsley (Vice-Chairman)
Austin Francis – Michael Geier – James Judson – A.C. Pickens – Jessica Schackmann – Eric Spiker – Doug Weddell
