County faces more legal woes

PEORIA — For the second time in less than four months, a complaint has been filed against Bureau County in the U.S. District Court in Peoria. On June 4, the family and estate of the late Austin Wells, 17, of Dover, filed a civil rights and wrongful death complaint against Bureau County, Sheriff John Thompson and correctional officers Sherry Keefer and Chris Spiegel for the events surrounding Wells’ June 9, 2007, suicide when he was an inmate in the county jail.

On Sept. 18, Terry D. Wilson, a current inmate at the Bureau County Jail, filed a civil rights lawsuit in Peoria’s federal court listing a number of complaints, including deliberate indifference on the part of law officials and poor conditions in the county jail.

Defendants in Wilson’s complaint include Sheriff John Thompson, Deputy Sheriff Patrick Beaber, Princeton Police Officer Scott Underwood, an Illinois State Police trooper, and the entire Bureau County Board.

At the time of his complaint, Wilson said he had previously filed seven grievances about his concerns with the sheriff and was told the grievances were being taken under advisement.

As stated in the eight-page complaint, Wilson, a 52-year-old African-American, claimed his arrest was illegal because it was based on racial profiling and false pretenses. He also claimed his civil rights have been violated because the county jail is in an unsafe condition. He also alleged professional incompetence on the part of the sheriff and county board, which Wilson said was evidenced, in part, by the unsafe jail conditions and suicide of inmates.

Among Wilson’s physical complaints against the jail building itself include a lack of sunshine and ventilation, massive overcrowding, faulty showers, substandard mattresses and the presence of mold.

Wilson’s other complaints are a lack of medical personnel on duty at the jail and the fact he (Wilson) has not been given access to the courthouse law library, as ordered on Sept. 12 in Bureau County Court.

For these violations, as well as others, Wilson is asking the federal court to award him $10 million in punitive and compensatory damages. He’s also asking the courts to impose an injunction stopping the use of the jail until corrections can be made to the jail structure and staff training.