Embattled sheriff sends letter to resign

EUREKA, Ill. -- Woodford County Sheriff Bill Myers has resigned almost two weeks after disappearing amid questions over charges to a sheriff's department credit card.

County board chairman Tom Janssen said he received the one-line resignation, mailed over the weekend, on Monday.

He said Myers, 51, who was sheriff for 12 years, gave no reason for his action.

The letter will be read at today's board meeting, then "filed away and accepted," Janssen said.

Myers, who has not been at work since Oct. 24, called the sheriff's department Oct. 29, but did not say where he was or when he would be back. His resignation is apparently the first official communication he's had with the county since then.

The Peoria Journal Star reported over the weekend that Myers had been admitted to BroMenn Regional Medical Center in Normal, Ill., for evaluation of an undisclosed condition. Hospital officials would not confirm he was patient.

Myers disappeared shortly after county board members raised questions about $28,000 in credit card charges, including cash advances and at least one automated teller machine withdrawal made at a strip club. Last week, the county jail superintendent said similar charges -- possible totaling $27,000 -- were made without his knowledge to a county credit card used to pay jail bills.

No criminal charges have been filed against Myers. State's Attorney Mike Stroh said his office and the Illinois State Police are investigating the credit card charges to determine whether a crime was committed.

This isn't the first time sheriff's department charges have been challenged. In March, some county board members questioned Myers about two $2,500 withdrawals from the card but later said they were satisfied by his explanation that the money was for undercover operations.