DeKalb County State’s Attorney Clay Campbell told citizens there is a high price for staying silent about corruption at a town hall meeting Tuesday.

Campbell spoke at the DeKalb Community Outreach Building, 2500 N. Annie Glidden Road, and gave his view of how to better Illinois.

“Since 1970, we have had four governors convicted on public corruption charges.” Campbell said. “Illinois is ranked the third most corrupt state in the country, and Chicago is the number one most corrupt city in America. This kind of widespread corruption is not acceptable in our state.”

Campbell focused the address on the affect of corruption on northern Illinois and his plans to fight public injustice.

Campbell presented a list of behaviors he said he feels would be conducive to productive and honest officials.

“Officials should never gain from a decision made on behalf of the public, nor should their friends or relatives,” Campbell said. “Officials should educate themselves and their departments on the corruption laws; ignorance is never a defense. Most importantly, officials should report when they feel something is suspicious. The public rewards honesty and transparency.”

Campbell’s office started a new initiative to stem the influence of corruption in DeKalb County and has appointed a new staffer for the purpose of fielding corruption complaints and tips.

Campbell said the best way an average citizen can help the new initiative is to report any and all practices that seem wrong or suspect.

“We can never act on things we don’t know,” Campbell said.

DeKalb Mayor Kris Povlsen was in attendance and said this initiative is preemptive for the area, and Campbell is being proactive.

“No corruption has been found in any way, shape or form in our community,” Povlsen said.

The initiative also includes a page on the new DeKalb County State’s Attorney website, with a dedicated public integrity hotline for citizens to report suspicious government practices.

“Corruption costs Illinois over $500 million a year,” Campbell said. “I just can’t look at my two 8 year olds and tell them ‘You may as well move out of Illinois, because this place is up for grabs.’ I just can’t do that. Public corruption will not be tolerated anywhere in the state of Illinois.”