Byrnes Mill Police Chief Frank Selvaggio
Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney Trisha Stefanski said no criminal charges will be filed against Byrnes Mill Police Chief Frank T. Selvaggio following an investigation of the city’s Police Department.
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office recently concluded an initial investigation into the Police Department, which began March 1 following the abrupt resignation of the city’s attorney, Allison Sweeney, who forwarded reports to Byrnes Mill officials and the Sheriff’s Office alleging wrongdoing in the Police Department and Municipal Court.
“The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office did not send us over charges regarding the chief. Therefore, no charges will be filed,” Stefanski said today, May 18.
Stefanski said while her office will not seek charges against Selvaggio, the investigation is still being reviewed to see if criminal charges are warranted against anyone else.
“There could be (someone else charged),” she said.
Byrnes Mill City Administrator Adam Thompson said the city was informed on Tuesday, May 16, that no charges would be sought against Selvaggio.
Selvaggio had not returned a phone call to the Leader as of this afternoon.
Mayor Rob Kiczenski said Selvaggio had been on voluntary administrative leave since May 1 but returned to work today, May 18.
“It was not something we forced on him,” Kiczenski said. “He was willing to do it. I feel it helped the investigation, showed the city was being as transparent as possible and he was not interfering in any way, shape or form. He has always fully cooperative with (the investigation).”
The Sheriff’s Office submitted its investigation to the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office on May 4. Sheriff Dave Marshak also said the investigation was sent to the Attorney General’s Office so it could consider whether the city violated rules on the “separation of powers for municipalities that have their own municipal court system.”
“We have not (heard from the Attorney’s General Office),” Thompson said. “We will cooperate fully with them. We will wait for them to make their final call on what to do before we make any statements on that.”
In the letter Marshak sent to Thompson on May 4, the sheriff said the investigation was isolated to criminal complaints and that “investigators conducted interviews and forensically examined digital evidence, including deleted emails and messages.”
Marshak also said the investigation uncovered “some non-criminal observations,” which were outside the scope of the criminal investigation, but warned the city that if they were not addressed could lead to “additional challenges in the future.”
The Sheriff’s Office investigation began the day after former Byrnes Mill city attorney Allison Sweeney resigned and submitted more than 180 pages of records to city officials and the Sheriff’s Office documenting what she claimed was illegal activity.
Sweeney said Byrnes Mill Police Chief Frank Selvaggio directed officers to void tickets, including DWI citations, directed an employee to sign the attorney’s name to documents without the attorney’s permission and signed contracts for police equipment without approval from the Board of Alderpersons.
She also said Selvaggio voided at least two citations for driving under the influence and forwarded another DUI case to the Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. Sweeney said only the city’s prosecuting attorney should send DUI cases to the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office after identifying the violation as a potential felony and only the officer who wrote a ticket should void it.
Sweeney also said she found her signature stamp had been used to make recommendations on other tickets without her knowledge or permission, some of which dated to a time when she was on medical leave.
“I became aware of a situation involving my credentials, and I reported the activity to the proper authorities,” Sweeney said today. “After fulfilling my ethical responsibilities, I have had no involvement with the city or the Police Department. I have cooperated to the best of my ability with the investigators while still maintaining privileges that are afforded to the city even after our attorney-client relationship ended.
“I will always be appreciative of the city for giving me my start and allowing me to grow both as a person and a professional during my time there. While the city will continue to face challenges in the future, they have a very talented city administrator who is more than capable of moving the city forward.”
Kiczenski said it is a relief to know no criminal charges will be filed against Selvaggio.
“The city is pleased to be able to turn the page on this and move forward,” he said. “There were some observations made of some procedural items that we can improve on, and we will certainly address that with our attorney, Craig Smith, and implement improvements where necessary. We are always open to any type of improvement to make ourselves more transparent to our citizens.”
Smith, of the Curtis, Heinz, Garrett & O’Keefe law firm in St. Louis, was hired on March 15 and is being paid $175 per hour. Sweeney and her father’s practice, the Robert K. Sweeney law firm in Hillsboro, had been charging $140 an hour, but raised it to $170 in January, Thompson said.
The Sweeney firm had represented Byrnes Mill since 2011.
Thompson said he and Smith are currently reviewing the city’s processes and procedures to determine if they will recommend that the Board of Alderpersons changes how the city operates.
“We are relieved that the investigation is over and we can move on with the business of running the city,” Thompson said. “We are grateful that we have had our eyes open to some deficiencies in the city, and it gives us a chance to review our processes to make sure we are doing things in the right way. That has been a good thing to come from all of this. We can review ourselves and make sure we are doing the right things.”
Thompson said the city currently is not looking to bring in an outside firm to review its policies and procedures. However, he said that may change depending on what the Attorney General’s Office says after reviewing the reports.
“At this moment, because it looks like nothing nefarious or illegal happened, I think we will keep it internal,” Thompson said. “Before we make any judgement calls on that, we will wait to see what the Attorney General’s Office has to say. If they find there are more process issues with us, I will recommend we go to an outside service to make sure we have someone looking at it with unbiased eyes to make sure we change our processes for the better.”