Elmhurst D205 Official's Wife Also Arrested

ELMHURST, IL – A top Elmhurst School District 205 official's wife was arrested about the same time he was last month, court records show.

On Nov. 26, Patch reported about the arrest of Todd Schmidt, the district's facilities director, on felony charges.

His wife is Rita Schmidt. They share an address in Rockford.

The couple have different lawyers in the pending cases in Rockford-based Winnebago County Court. The attorneys could not be reached for immediate comment Friday.

The couple have three daughters, all of whom are out of high school.

According to Rita Schmidt's LinkedIn page, she worked as the director of development and relations advancement for Rockford Lutheran School from 2014 to 2021. Since then, she has been a merchandiser at Bolingbrook-based Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits, the page said.

Rita Schmidt faces two of the same charges as her husband — financial exploitation of an elderly person ($15,000 or more) and aggravated identity theft with a person 60 or older as the victim ($10,000 to $100,000).

Todd Schmidt was also charged with using a forged credit card (more than $300).

Upon Patch's inquiry last month, the district said Schmidt was placed on leave. But its spokeswoman did not answer Patch's question about whether the leave was paid or unpaid.

As of Friday afternoon, Schmidt's name remained on the district's website. Schmidt, who started with the district in 2018, has overseen the spending of $168 million on building projects approved by voters in a 2018 referendum.