Beth Hundsdorfer
ReporterBeth Hundsdorfer joined the Capitol News Illinois team as a full-time reporter in November 2021.
Hundsdorfer is a veteran investigative reporter who spent nearly 20 years at the Belleville News-Democrat, 13 of which were spent on the investigative beat. She also covered cops and courts.
Her investigative journalism included work on issues such as solitary confinement in the Illinois Department of Corrections, fatal flaws in the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services that resulted in the death of 53 children, discriminatory housing practices in the city of Belleville and dismal prosecution rates in sex crimes cases in southern Illinois.
Her resume includes two John Jay College Journalism awards for excellence in criminal justice, a National Headliners Grand Award, a George Polk Award and a Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for local reporting among other accolades.
Prior to joining Capitol News Illinois, she had a brief stint at St. Louis Public Radio, and she spent two years as the public information officer at the Illinois State Police, fielding news media inquiries on issues ranging from traffic crashes to policy and procedure.
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A new state watchdog report calls for a “fundamental overhaul” at Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center. But the state kept on administrators who were in charge during some of the facility’s most troubled years. -
Prompted by an outcry over abuse, Illinois proposed moving residents from Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center to similar facilities in the state. New reporting shows the problems at Choate are common throughout the statewide system. -
The legislation, spurred by a news investigation, allows workers to be barred from health care jobs for obstructing investigations into staff misconduct -
Pritzker says cultural issues at facility are ‘something that you can’t snap your fingers and fix’ -
Officials acknowledged that news reporting had put a spotlight on conditions at facility plagued by abuse, cover-ups -
Ongoing investigations of state-run facility have revealed culture of abuse and cover-ups -
Document trove confirms ongoing reporting of abuse at state-run facility, staff’s ‘sense of impunity’ -
Inspector general wants authority to add health care workers fired for misconduct to state registry -
For years, residents at the Illinois facility received scant treatment for their developmental disabilities and mental illnesses, then faced felonies for lashing out at staff. -
Public guardian says he plans appeal to Supreme Court
