Samantha Steele, a first-term Democratic commissioner on the county’s Board of Review, was arrested Sunday on a misdemeanor charge of driving under the influence of alcohol, the Chicago Police Department confirmed.
CPD said they made the arrest just before 9 p.m. Sunday in the 5000 block of North Ashland Avenue, in the Uptown neighborhood.
Steele did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Steele, 45, a self-described reformer and longtime assessment official in Indiana, was elected to represent most of the county’s north side on the three-member property tax appeal board in 2022.
She has since sometimes clashed with her colleagues on the board and recently received a slap on the wrist from the county’s inspector general for leaking details of a property tax appeal involving the potential future site of the Bears stadium in Arlington Heights. She was also sued by a former employee who alleged he was fired for refusing to release certain information related to that same appeal.
Steele is due in court Dec. 27, police said. If convicted, she could lose driving privileges for a year and face fines of up to $2,500.
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