COLUMBIA, Ill. — Columbia, Illinois, Mayor Kevin Hutchinson resigned Monday, less than a week after he was indicted.
“It is with a heavy heart, but due to the recent events, I feel it is in the best interest of the City and my family for me to immediately resign my position as Mayor,” Hutchinson said in a news release.
Hutchinson has been the mayor of Columbia since 2005. He did not run for re-election in 2020, and his fourth term in office is set to expire on April 30. The news release said the city council is expected to hold a special meeting this week to elect an acting mayor from its ranks.
Hutchinson was indicted Wednesday after federal investigators said he lied to a corruption task force about an insurance contract the city signed that benefited a company he owned.
He was indicted by a grand jury on one count of making a false statement to the Federal Metro-East Public Corruption Task Force.
According to the indictment, Hutchinson is a licensed insurance agent and owns a corporation called B.M.C. Associates in addition to being the mayor. The indictment said Hutchinson's company received referral commissions from health insurance and property/casualty loss insurance contracts that the city provides to its employees.
The indictment said he was required to file an annual Statement of Economic Interests. In his 2018 statement, he falsely stated he had no "personal financial interest, directly or indirectly, in any contract, work or business of the municipality."
In March 2019, Hutchinson was asked about the contracts by the Federal Metro-East Public Corruption Task Force. He told the officer of the task force and an FBI special agent that his only interest in the contracts the city had was his official capacity as the mayor of the city, which the indictment says is untrue.
U.S. attorneys Steven Weinhoeft and Norman Smith recommended a $20,000 bond.
