The Illinois State Police has charged Teresa Sherwood, an ISP CCL Firearms Instructor, who had been granted the authority to “tailor her curriculum as needed, provided the listed minimum requirements are delivered” with failure to deliver a 16 hour curriculum. The ISP failed to recognize the pedagogy of online instruction, as currently used by the University of Illinois and countless other fully accredited colleges and universities, as valid hours towards satisfying their course requirements.

We the undersigned implore Stewart J. Umholtz, Tazewell County State's Attorney, to dismiss all charges against Sherwood (People vs. Teresa Sherwood 2019CM000202) for the offense of Providing a False Certification of Firearms Training and to further direct the ISP to explicitly recognize in the “Request for Approval of a Concealed Carry License Firearm Curriculum,” the validity of online instruction and that an instructor’s tailored curriculum may include an online portion.