Cook County Board of Review Commissioner Steele’s LinkedIn profile and official Cook County Board of Review biography list a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Kent Institute of Art & Design, a UK-based institution that closed in 2005. However, FOIA-released emails, show that Steele reported only a high school diploma to the International Association of Assessing Officers (IAAO) when verifying her credentials.

In a recent episode of "The Medrano Exchange" podcast, Cook County Board of Review Commissioner Samantha Steele sparked outraged her use of the term "colored people." The interview, conducted by Gus Medrano, a Senior Mortgage Consultant at Meta Mortgage and podcast host, has ignited a firestorm of criticism.

Cook County Board of Review Commissioner Samantha Steele, already under fire for a 2024 DUI arrest, is now facing a fresh wave of controversy after the Cook County Board of Ethics fined her and her top aides thousands of dollars for multiple violations, including leaking confidential information and misuse of taxpayer-funded time and resources.

Cook County Commissioner Samantha Steele hired Jon Snyder, a federally convicted former official who aided in a corruption probe. Despite knowing his record, Steele kept him on staff until media inquiries prompted his firing. Internal records show ethics violations, which Steele initially ignored.

State Sen. Dan Dernulc introduced a bill requiring Indiana residency for county tax board members after controversy arose over Samantha Steele, a Lake County official living in Illinois, arrested for DUI in Chicago and accused of abusing her position during the arrest.

Cook County paid $180,000 to settle a wrongful termination lawsuit against Board of Review Commissioner Samantha Steele. Ex-staffer Frank Calabrese alleged he was fired for refusing to release confidential info about the Bears’ tax appeal and for cooperating with the Inspector General. He later released Steele’s DUI arrest video, where she allegedly told police, “Is your penis that small?” The IG faulted Steele for ethics violations and improper disclosures.