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.

A shocking 911 call and detailed eyewitness accounts, reported by Tom Schuba and Dan Mihalopoulos of WBEZ, have confirmed that Samantha Steele, a Democratic official on Cook County’s influential Board of Review, attempted to flee the scene after crashing her car while allegedly intoxicated in Chicago’s Andersonville neighborhood. The troubling incident, which took place in November, has sparked significant public criticism and raised serious concerns about her fitness to serv

The Chicago Sun-Times has called for Cook County Board of Review Commissioner Samantha Steele to resign, emphasizing, “A major part of holding public office is the ability to maintain a sense of professionalism—whether the official is on or off duty.”