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NewsSaturday, August 30, 2008 12:19 PM CDT
County Board member Nuckolls charged, released from jail
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BLOOMINGTON -- McLean County Board member Robert Nuckolls posted $400 Friday afternoon to be released from jail on two misdemeanor counts of violating an order of protection. | Embattled county board member Nuckolls arrested

Setting his bond was delayed for several hours Friday until a conference call was set up between defense attorney Jonathon Backman, Associate Judge Casey Costigan and special prosecutor Charles Zalar, who is based in Springfield. Zalar filed the formal charges, allowing the judge to set bond.

Nuckolls, 46, was arrested Thursday morning after Bloomington police received a disorderly conduct complaint shortly after 9 a.m. on Christopher Way.
Robert Nuckolls



The call appears to be related to the orders of protection against Nuckolls. Charges state Nuckolls was within 500 feet of Megan Nelson, a woman named in an order of protection, and within 500 feet of her home on Christopher Way.

McLean County State’s Attorney Bill Yoder said Friday the matter will be handled by a special prosecutor because of a potential conflict of interest for his staff.

“This office represents the County Board, so there’s a pretty strong conflict of interest or perception of conflict,” Yoder said.

Meanwhile, the head of the County Board announced Friday he intends to remove Nuckolls from his committee assignments on the McLean County Board.

Board Chairman Matt Sorensen said in a statement that as chief ethics officer of the county, he “is responsible to protect the board and our citizens from potential conflicts of personal interest on the part of board members.”

Sorensen said he will suspend a board rule at the September meeting that requires members to serve on committees and allows members to approve any changes in assignments. A new lineup of committees will be presented that removes Nuckolls from his assignment on the justice and executive committees, Sorensen said.

Nuckolls, who lives in the 2800 block of Gill Street in Bloomington, was booked at the McLean County jail shortly before noon Thursday.

The accusations stem from a police call from Megan Nelson.

Earlier this summer, Nuckolls agreed to a two-year order of protection filed against him by Nelson and her mother, Margaret Nelson. As part of the court agreement, the two women agreed not to initiate contact with him.

Immediately after that case was settled, Nuckolls filed a defamation suit against the women. A status hearing on the matter is set in November.

The lawsuit accuses the women of making false harassment claims against Nuckolls.

Nuckolls and Margaret Nelson both work at Illinois State University in different departments. Nuckolls was transferred several weeks ago from the parking and transportation area to the Office of Environmental Health and Safety.

Megan Nelson works for county government.

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Reader comments on this story - 10 total

Note: All views and opinions expressed in reader comments are solely those of the individual submitting the comment, and not those of the Pantagraph or its staff.

isabelle wrote on Aug 30, 2008 11:12 PM:

" This guy's lucky there's so much other stuff happening right now that no one's paying attention to this story. "

Not so Political wrote on Aug 30, 2008 1:04 PM:

" Two county board members in trouble in just 5 years. This is starting to look more like Chicago politics !! "

otis wrote on Aug 30, 2008 1:33 AM:

" i hope he gets his job back at parking atlease he made his employees enforse the parking rules this school year its been like free parking especially in the business permit spots "

cats55ire wrote on Aug 29, 2008 7:33 PM:

" This man should be removed!!!!!!!! "

tweety56 wrote on Aug 29, 2008 2:41 PM:

" My first comment wasn't posted so I'll try to say this in a different way. The rules are different for county board members. An incident involving a county board member occured a few years ago and a teenage boy was killed. That board member got basically a slap on the wrist even though he broke at least 2 laws. He is still on the county board. "

whaddayaknow wrote on Aug 29, 2008 2:08 PM:

" Isn't he on the JUSTICE COMMITTEE of the McLean County Board? Isn't that some kind of conflict of interest since they oversee the State's Attorney's Office in some way? I am guessing that may be the reason for the special prosecutor. "

brainstorm wrote on Aug 29, 2008 1:38 PM:

" He still a McLean County Board member?..............story reads like he is.
If thats the case, he needs to be excused from that position immediately! "

What The Hey wrote on Aug 29, 2008 1:17 PM:

" Amen, BigBrother. What's this gonna cost us? Unless the States Attorney believes there would be some conflict of interest - for whatever reason - this should be prosecuted by McLean Co. personnel. Otherwise, what are we paying them for. If I was to be arrested and sent to trial, would I have the opportunity to request a special prosecutor?? I'm guessing NOT!! "

41617 wrote on Aug 29, 2008 12:23 PM:

" Oh no here we go again!!! A special prosecutor and AGAIN this involves someone in the County Clerks office. Remind me of just how Ms Milton was involved in this????? If my memory serves me right most of the changes that were recommeded and the Pantagraph reported like they were for the entire County came out of the initial investigation when all of the Bob Nuckolls things came to light were based on information they uncovered while talking to our famous Country Clerk!! Something is not right here, DIG and find out the truth!!!! "

BigBrother wrote on Aug 29, 2008 12:21 PM:

" If found guilty of violation of an order of protection Mr. Nuckolls should be assessed the court costs including the cost of an outside prosecuting attorney. Why should the County residents pay for a special prosecutor. This should be requested to the judge at the time of the trial. The county taxpayers have already paid more for this defendant than he is worth. "

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