East Central Reporter

Prisoner Review Board Member John Wayne Clough filed a statement of economic interest (SEI) that did not fully state his public employment history, according to a recent report from the Edgar County Watchdogs.

The citizen government oversight group examined Clough’s SEI and said it found the statement did not accurately reflect his employment as a deputy in the Coles County Sheriff's Office. According to the watchdogs, this means Clough is subject to a $1,000 fine or one year of imprisonment.

The group noted that Clough retired from the Coles County Sheriff’s Office on March 14, and was then appointed to the Prisoner Review Board on March 30. Clough filed his SEI on March 10 and signed it even earlier, on March 2, but omitted his employment at the Sheriff's Office in a section of the form that requires public officials to declare all government units that employed them in the previous calendar year.

Edgar County Watchdogs Co-Founder John Kraft

In addition to sitting on the Prisoner Review Board, Clough is the Coles County GOP Chairman and is seeking a precinct committeeman position in the upcoming election, the group said.

“How can he sit in judgment of others when he cannot truthfully fill out his statement of economic interest?” Watchdogs Co-Founder John Kraft wrote in the group’s report.