The Illinois Attorney General Office's motion to postpone the scheduled October trial date for Iroquois County's former Public Health Department administrator Dee Schippert was granted, without objection, in a Kankakee Court room Friday. The trial was set for October 19.  Kankakee County Judge William Dickenson granted a motion by prosecutors to delay the trial date.  There was no objection from Schippert's defense team.  Another status hearing is scheduled for 9:30 am Thursday, September 24.

Schippert remains free, under pretrial conditions.

The 59-year-old Watseka resident faces a felony 33-count indictment returned in March of 2024 after an Illinois State Police investigation. The indictment is for 8 counts of theft by deception, involving government property, eight counts of forgery and 17 counts of official misconduct.

Prosecutors contend Schippert stole over $100,000 from the health department, by submitting fraudulent time sheets for work she did not perform, including overtime and backpay she didn't earn.  Court records also show prosecutors claim she allegedly made "false representations" to the County Board of Health to gain Board approval for overtime hours and fraudulently used COVID-19 Grant monies to pay for her overtime. 

Prosecutors also claim Schippert spent several hundred hours (759) at a Watseka gambling business outlet while claiming to be working.

94.1 WGFA