Politics & Government
Political Rewind: House Discipline Committee Sets Final Hearing Date for Indicted Rep. Smith
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Editor's Note: This article was created by aggregating news articles from Illinois Statehouse News that were written by various Illinois Statehouse News reporters.
House discipline committee sets final Smith hearing for July 19
SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois House Select Committee on Discipline will have its final hearing on possible punishment for indicted state Rep. Derrick Smith on July 19, according to a schedule posted Friday.
Much of the committee’s business – which is not a court proceeding but has the tone of one – between now and then will occur by email, the schedule indicates, but the committee chair, Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie, can call additional hearings as needed.
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The committee and Smith are to disclose to each other by July 6 all evidence they intend to introduce at the final hearing. By July 13 each side can object to the other’s evidence. By July 16, each side must respond to the objections raised by the opposing party.
The chairwoman may rule on the objections in a written order or may issue her rulings at the final hearing, which will occur in Chicago.
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Members of the Select Committee on Discipline, a bipartisan body charged with deliberating possible professional punishment for Smith, want to move forward as quickly as possible, they said at their first hearing Wednesday.
However, Smith’s attorney, Victor Henderson, said the committee should hold off because Smith’s case still is pending in federal court, and he still is receiving discovery information from federal prosecutors about their evidence.
Smith was indicted in April on a federal bribery charge, after authorities recorded him allegedly accepting a $7,000 bribe. The case is pending in federal court in the Northern District of Illinois.
The 12-member Select Committee on Discipline will act as jurors who hear Smith’s case and will determine if he should be exonerated, reprimanded, censured or expelled from the House of Representatives.
— Jayette Bolinski
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