Asking the Illinois Secretary of State’s Office for a current list of those banned from Springfield’s Capitol Complex without an accompanying SoS Escort found that former State Rep. Jack Franks is no longer mentioned.

Illinois Leaks found that Franks was added to the list on March 19, 2019 and published the following:

The reason for the restriction?

As Tina Sfondeles of the Chicago Sun-Times reported on January 31, 2020, “a complaint was first received about alleged sexual harassment involving an employee of the speaker’s office and a former state representative on Nov. 19, 2018…

“Based on the allegations, [Mike] Madigan told his chief counsel to notify Franks that he faced various restrictions, including a prohibition against any contact with employees in his office…

“In February 2019, the speaker’s office determined the harassment allegations were ‘credible,’ and the speaker asked Illinois Secretary of State Capitol Police to ban Franks from entering the Capitol without an escort, the speaker’s office said.”

There is more about the investigation that dated back to 2016, the story said.

Madigan “himself” contacted the Sangamon State’s Attorney’s “about possible criminal conduct.”

“Franks told the Sun-Times he issued a ‘full denial’ to the speaker’s office last year.”

Subsequently, Franks has reiterated that he did nothing wrong.

Franks was added to the Patrol Alert list after the Speaker’s Office found the allegations credible.

Then, the following “Patrol Alert” was issued:

Almost a year after that, however, the following search warrant was issued on January 29, 2020.

The contents of the search warrant made Illinois media big time.

Asking for documents showing why Franks was removed from the escort list resulted in a reply that no such documents exist.

Asking for the list the last day Franks was on the list and the first day he was removed resulting in being told that the Secretary of State’s Police does not keep such documents.

That seems strange considering a written communication from the Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan’s Office got Franks on the list in the first place.

Apparently, a verbal communication was enough to get Franks off the escort list.

That is what the following reply to a Freedom of Information request indicates:

“…the decision to remove (and the actual directive to remove) Jack Franks name from the restricted list was made during telephone discussions and did not involve email or memorandum.”

With no document trail, I turned to the Public Information Officer, Dave Drucker.

Here’s his email:

‘The Secretary of State Police have authority over the Capitol Building and the complex.

“They made a decision on March 5^th of this year that Mr. Franks would be removed from the restricted list.

“We do not discuss the specifics of individual situations.”

= = = = =

That means Franks could become a lobbyist in the next phase of his life, if that is his desire.

Presuming Franks was informed of his removal from the mandatory escort list, the question remains why he did not make the information public prior to the November election.