City of Beardstown Adminstrative Assistant Placed On Leave, Under Investigation by ISP

By Benjamin Cox on February 17, 2023 at 8:16am

An employee of Beardstown City Hall has been placed on administrative leave and is currently under investigation by the Illinois State Police.

The Cass County Star Gazette reports that Melissa DeGroot-Espinoza, an administrative assistant for the city, was the employee that was placed on leave. According to a LinkedIN account for a Melissa Espinoza, she has worked for the City of Beardstown for the past 6 years.

Cass County State’s Attorney Craig Miller told the Star Gazette that he was contacted about the State Police investigation last week and that the investigation is ongoing. Miller said that once the ISP investigation is completed, they will turn over evidence and documents for referral for any criminal charges.

According to online court records for a 40 year old Melissa J. Espinoza, she has had 3 cases in Cass County Circuit Court for small claims in 2017 and 2018, and a traffic ticket from 2015.

No further information about Espinoza or the investigation is currently available.