A north suburban state senator pleaded not guilty Wednesday to misdemeanor criminal damage and trespassing charges stemming from a dispute with neighbors.
State Sen. Suzi Schmidt also had a Lake County judge modify an anti-stalking, no-contact order to essentially allow her to move back into her home outside of Lake Villa, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
The neighbors earlier this month obtained the order to bar Schmidt from coming within 500 feet of their property after she allegedly harassed them for more than a year with phone calls, emails and texts.
Schmidt was arrested earlier this month following an alleged dispute with those same neighbors.
Lake County GOP chairman Robert Cook said the recent allegations don't sound like the leader he knows and said he wouldn't call on Schmidt to step down early
Schmidt made news last year when 911 tapes were released of her using her job title to try and persuade police to ignore her husband's domestic disturbance calls.
Despite pressure to resign from office after the allegations against her, the senator stayed on, but later decided not to seek re-election.
