The Jan. 16 agreement between Sangamon County officials and the U.S. Department of Justice ended a federal race and disability discrimination probe of county government but failed to satisfy critics in the wake of the police-involved killing of Sonya Massey.
Sheriff Paula Crouch said in a news release from the county that the DOJ review, announced in November, “did not reveal any discriminatory practices, but we recognize that there is always room for improvement.”
Steps outlined in a “memorandum of agreement” between the DOJ and the county’s sheriff’s department, 911 dispatch system and county government will “not only enhance transparency and accountability but also strengthen our relationship with the community,” the sheriff said.
However, County Board member Anthony DelGiorno, a Springfield Democrat, said the DOJ investigation appeared rushed so it could be completed before Republican President-Elect Donald Trump was sworn into office Jan. 20.
DelGiorno said he wasn’t privy to the content of the requested information that county officials turned over to federal investigators.
But he said the investigation apparently failed to explore mistakes that were made, and potential favoritism granted, in the sheriff’s department’s background investigation and subsequent hiring of Sean Grayson as a deputy in 2023.
Grayson, 30, a white Sangamon County sheriff’s deputy, was charged with murder in the July 6 shooting death of Massey, 36, a Black single mother of two teenagers who was dealing with mental illness. Grayson was fired after the incident.
Justice Department officials in Washington, D.C., didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Grayson shot Massey in the head at about 1:20 a.m. July 6 after Massey suspected a prowler in the neighborhood, called 911 and summoned police to her Woodside Township home in the “cabbage patch” neighborhood just outside Springfield’s southern border.
Grayson has pleaded not guilty and is being held at the Macon County Jail. State’s Attorney John Milhiser has asked the Illinois Supreme Court to overturn a 4th District Appellate Court decision that would allow Grayson to be released while he awaits trial.
Critics say the sheriff’s department missed or overlooked numerous “red flags” in Grayson’s tenure at other central Illinois police departments and his background in the U.S. Army, as well as his convictions for misdemeanor DUI offenses in 2015 and 2016.
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The DOJ agreement calls for county officials to review and update policies and procedures and provide additional training on “non-disciminatory policing” and “interactions with individuals with behavioral health disabilities.”
The sheriff’s department will expand its crisis-intervention capabilities to better respond to people with mental illness who need urgent assistance, and develop a “community engagement plan,” all as part of the agreement.
The document sets up a “framework for data collection and reporting for a two-year period” of monitoring by the Justice Department, according to a news release. But the pact “does not constitute any admission of liability by the entities,” and the DOJ added that it “has not reached a finding of discrimination.”
Members of Massey’s family didn’t respond to requests for comment.
State’s Attorney John Milhiser said: “How Sangamon County responds to the horrific death of Sonya Massey is very important. This response is happening on many levels, from the criminal prosecution of Sean Grayson to ensuring that law enforcement has the training and tools necessary to effectively respond to all types of calls. And this agreement with the DOJ will help identify resources and best practices to allow Sangamon County to provide the highest level of government services to its citizens.”
After receiving a request from DelGiorno and County Board member Gina Lathan, another Springfield Democrat, the citizen-led Massey Commission, formed in response to Massey’s death, asked in October that the DOJ, Illinois attorney general and Illinois State Police conduct what the commission described as a “full review of the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Department hiring practices, procedures, review of complaints, disciplinary actions, and such other subject matter as said agencies deem relevant.”
The DOJ kicked off its investigation in November and required Sangamon County officials to turn over documents and other materials in mid-December.
A DOJ letter Nov. 14 that informed county officials of the investigation said Massey’s killing “raises serious concerns” about the sheriff’s department’s “interactions with Black people and people with behavioral disabilities.”
DelGiorno said the DOJ’s lack of a finding of discrimination didn’t exonerate the sheriff’s department. He said he doesn’t know whether the DOJ did enough work to make such a determination, though the county’s news release said the DOJ “found no instances of discriminatory practices.”
DelGiorno told Illinois Times he now may ask the County Board to authorize an independent investigation of what went wrong in Grayson’s hiring. He said he knows that may be a hard sell for a Republican-controlled board and a county government with no Democrats in countywide elected positions.
DelGiorno wrote on Facebook that the sheriff’s department’s actions related to Massey’s death and other deaths at the hands of correctional officers at the county jail and other deputies deserve scrutiny.
“I am disappointed that past practices and actions are not being examined by the Justice Department,” DelGiorno wrote. “We learn from our mistakes, but this agreement appears to sweep those mistakes under the rug on the promise to engage the community and collaborate with the Massey Commission to enact new training, policies and procedures.”
The agreement says county officials will review any recommendations from the Massey Commission and “work collaboratively” to adopt them, “as appropriate.”
The “as appropriate” phrase gives county officials the option to ignore Massey Commission recommendations, according to County Board member Marc Ayers, a Springfield Democrat.
County Board Chairperson Andy Van Meter, a Springfield Republican, praised the deal, saying, “The Massey Commission’s work and request for this review were instrumental in identifying areas for improvement. Their advocacy has ensured that our practices are aligned with the highest standards of fairness and justice.”
The County Board did pass a resolution at its Jan. 13 meeting to establish a nine-member panel that will study the creation of a mental health board through a future referendum – as soon as in 2026 – that could collect new property taxes to improve mental health services in the county. Creation of such a board was recommended by the Massey Commission.
But the County Board, also at the January meeting, voted down a Democrat-led proposal to put a referendum on the April 1 ballot to give voters the choice to create a way of firing a future sheriff mid-term in a recall referendum.
Republicans said they don’t think county government, as a non-home-rule form of government, has the right to allow an elected official to be recalled without such a right specifically outlined in state statute.
The debate over recall was prompted by former sheriff Jack Campbell’s refusal to heed calls for his resignation over his role in Grayson’s hiring. Campbell and Crouch, who was appointed to finish out Campbell’s four-year term after he decided to retire in August, are Republicans.
Because the Republican majority on the County Board rejected the Massey Commission’s recommendation to put recall for sheriffs on the ballot, DelGiorno said, “I have little faith in our county leadership to do the right thing.”
Ayers asked, “At this point, what is the point of the Massey Commission?”
JoAnn Johnson, a cochair of the commission, said the agreement doesn’t mean the commission’s work is done.
She said the commission is “pleased that there has been swift action, and we look forward to reviewing the agreement.”
Johnson, a retired Illinois State Police colonel, said she was disappointed the County Board voted down a binding referendum on recall. “I don’t understand the stark objection to it,” she said.
Dean Olsen is a senior staff writer for Illinois Times. He can be reached at dolsen@illinoistimes.com, 217-679-7810 or x.com/DeanOlsenIT.
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This article appears in Healthy, wealthy and wise 2025.
