The former Sangamon County sheriff – who refused calls for his resignation after Sonya Massey’s 2024 murder, then abruptly retired, citing stress on his family and the sheriff’s office – recently defended the office against recent allegations of “institutional shortcomings.”
Jack Campbell, 61, responded to questions from Illinois Times after Sangamon County deputy Travis Koester told a local judge that “systemic failures in training and supervision within the sheriff’s office” justified a less-than-maximum sentence for former sheriff’s deputy and convicted murderer Sean Grayson.
Campbell, who hired Grayson, said in an emailed response that Koester’s letter was “full of lies and was an attempt to deflect from Grayson’s actions and place blame on the sheriff’s office.”
Campbell condemned Grayson’s decisions leading to the fatal shooting of Massey inside her Woodside Township home but said there were no obvious warning signs before hiring that Grayson would disregard his training and become a murderer.
“He had double the training mandated by the state,” Campbell said. “Prior to coming to Sangamon County, Grayson had completed a part-time academy and a transition academy that legally allowed him to work full time in Illinois. I sent him through a full-time, 12-week academy. I sent several deputies that had part-time academy and transition academy to a full-time academy. It was my practice to send them all, and I did with the exception of one or two, because we were so short-handed. It was the year we had 10 retirements.”
Campbell said Koester’s assertion that Grayson lacked training “is denigrating almost every deputy working” at the sheriff’s office. And Campbell said he disagreed with the “content and premise” of Koester’s letter requesting mercy for Grayson.
Grayson, 31, who is white, was convicted of second-degree murder in connection with the shooting death of Massey, 36, an unarmed Black woman, before the judge sentenced Grayson on Jan. 29 to the maximum, a 20-year state prison sentence, for Massey’s murder. With good behavior and time already served, he could be released in 8½ years.
Koester, who signed his letter as president of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 55, which represents Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office staff, said in a letter to Circuit Judge Ryan Cadagin before sentencing that Grayson, hired by the sheriff’s office in 2023, was a “product” of a bad environment there.
“Over the years,” Koester wrote, “I have witnessed firsthand how inadequate or inconsistent training, insufficient remedial instruction and a lack of meaningful mentorship can leave deputies ill-equipped to manage high-pressure situations appropriately.”
Campbell worked for the sheriff’s office for more than two decades before being elected sheriff in 2018. As a member of the FOP since 1996, Campbell said he was disappointed to learn that Koester’s letter was sent “without the knowledge of the membership.”
Campbell, a Republican, denied allegations from County Board member Marc Ayers, a Springfield Democrat, that Grayson’s hiring was the result of nepotism.
Retired deputy Scott Butterfield, the father of Grayson’s fiancee, wrote a recommendation for Grayson before the former Logan County sheriff’s deputy was hired by Sangamon County.
Ayers sits on the Sangamon County Board’s jail committee, which oversees the sheriff’s office. He said the inadequate training and lack of mentorship referred to in Koester’s letter was the fault of Campbell and Campbell’s predecessors.
Campbell told Illinois Times: “Ayers’ anti-police rhetoric shows lack of research and is using a tragedy to gain political favor. As stated, Grayson received more than adequate training. I, as almost anyone would when hiring or contracting, took a recommendation from a longtime deputy and trusted friend, along with another retired officer from a different agency, to interview Grayson, the same way people take recommendations from people they trust to hire contractors, lawyers and the like. Those references could not have predicted this event, either.”
Campbell declined an interview request but agreed to answer written questions from the newspaper. With minor editing, here are more questions posed by Illinois Times and Campbell’s responses:
Question: Did you know about Grayson’s two prior misdemeanor driving while intoxicated convictions when you hired him?
Answer: “Yes, and the board appointed by the governor – the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board, or ILETSB – certified him as qualified for hire six times after those DUIs. If the governor or legislature wants to prevent people who get DUIs from being hired as a police officer, they have the power to do so.”
Before Grayson was hired by Sangamon County, he had worked at five other police agencies since 2020 – part-time for the Pawnee, Virden and Kincaid police departments, and full time for the Auburn Police Department and Logan County Sheriff’s Office.
Q: Why did you hire Grayson when a psychologist who examined him as part of the screening process said he had a quick temper and scored low on the cognitive exam?
A: “Grayson was given two psychological tests and passed both of them. After passing the second examination by Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office, he was sent through a police academy for the second time. (He attended his first training academy earlier in his law-enforcement career.) The second academy was not required by ILETSBE. He could have went to work immediately. He had no reported issues at that academy.”
Q: Did you or other members of your command staff know about the problems that Grayson had at the Logan County Sheriff’s Office and other police departments he worked at when you hired him?
A: “We were made aware of some of the issues. Not all of them. Complaints against law enforcement are investigated. And he had no major discipline at any of the agencies he worked for, certainly no use-of-force issues or racial complaints.”
Q: Did you know about concerns raised inside the Logan County Sheriff’s Office about Grayson conducting an almost 120-mph chase of a vehicle without legal justification to stop the driver and then allegedly lying on reports about the incident?
A: “I recall eventually learning about this incident, after we hired him.”
Q: You told me after Sonya Massey’s death that the Logan County Sheriff’s Office failed to provide additional material beyond the official written report on the high-speed chase investigation that said Grayson admitted his memory failed him and that Grayson needed more training on “high-stress decision making.” You told me also that you spoke with Logan County Sheriff Mark Landers after Massey’s death, but what did you talk with Landers about?
A: “I don’t recall specifics of my conversation with Sheriff Landers. I do know he was satisfied that Grayson had learned from this incident. And just like every previous agency Grayson worked for, who said they would take him back, Sheriff Landers said he would still be working for Logan County had he not laterally transferred to Sangamon County.”
Q: You previously told me that Landers, in his conversation with you, “verified that we didn’t get the information that we had sought.” Could you elaborate on what you meant here?
A: “Specifically, the audio tape of their chief deputy interviewing Grayson about that pursuit. Sheriff Landers did not know the tape existed either.”
Q What sort of information were you seeking from Logan County?
A: “We would have been looking for any and all information concerning Grayson.”
Q: Regarding Grayson’s time with the Kincaid Police Department, were you aware of, or informed prior to Grayson’s hiring, that the Christian County state’s attorney filed felony drug charges in 2021 against a man working as a mechanic based on false information from Grayson, and that the charges later were dropped because of a lack of evidence.
A: “I do not recall this incident at all and was not made aware of it.”
Q: If you had known all of the details that came out about Grayson and his background prior to his hiring, would you still have hired him? Do you have any regrets about hiring Grayson?
A: “Of course, with 20/20 hindsight, which doesn’t exist in the real world, had he not been hired, this tragedy wouldn’t have happened. It is impossible to predict human behavior. And there was nothing in his background, nothing revealed in his psychological exams, nor experiences at any agency he worked for that could have told us this would happen. Contrary to some media reporting, Grayson was let go by only one agency (Kincaid), and that was for not moving within a 10-mile radius of the city. He changed part-time agencies frequently for better pay, larger departments, then eventually, full-time work.”
Q: What do you think about the job Paula Crouch has been doing? (Campbell has endorsed Crouch over retired deputy David Timm in the March 17 GOP primary for county sheriff and has contributed $2,500 to Crouch’s campaign, according to filings with the Illinois State Board of Elections.)
A: “I think she is doing a good job. Paula took over SCSO at a very difficult time and has led the sheriff’s office admirably. She will keep SCSO moving in the right direction.”
Q: What reforms need to be made in Sangamon County or statewide to prevent another Sonya Massey tragedy?
A: “Reforms can’t prevent unlawful, snap decisions. Without a method to predict human behavior, tragedy and crime cannot be fully avoided.”
Q: What are the biggest challenges currently facing the sheriff’s office?
A: “1. Dealing with the fallout of the shooting. Deputies and staff feel betrayed by one of their own, and blame has been placed on others rather than Grayson and Grayson alone.”
“2. Employee retention and recruitment.”
“3. Challenges facing all of law enforcement in Illinois, due to the SAFE-T Act, such as no cash bail, lack of judicial discretion and the release of dangerous criminals into our communities.”
“4. Mental health issues in our community and in our jail.”
Q: Do you have anything else you would like to say?
A: “I would like to reiterate what I said in my retirement letter. The Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office became overwhelmed with phone calls and emails attacking us. The calls came in from area codes around the country. They would tie up our phone lines, sometimes all day long. They overwhelmed our dispatch center. The vile comments and threats disrupted our operations and greatly upset our staff. These daily recurring calls were clearly a calculated plan by outside actors. In addition, my family and I were subjected to death threats, even following me to one of the hospitals when I was checking on a family member. Personally, none of this phased me. I signed up for all that goes with politics. My family did not sign up for it. The important role the sheriff’s office plays in the safety of our public had to take priority over me completing my term, as I had fully intended to do. I miss my job and the great people I worked with. And I miss the interaction with the public, whom I loyally served. Unfortunately, the politicization of the tragedy, especially in a presidential election year, exposed how people will use events like this for political gain.”
This article appears in February 19-25, 2026.
