BELLEVILLE — Scott Flood, who was forced to resign his job two years ago with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources for improper on-the-job behavior, started working Monday as a $56,000-per-year building maintenance supervisor for St. Clair County.

Flood, 51, who is the son of longtime county and state Democrat Sam Flood, is the assistant director of county buildings. He declined to comment.

In 2011, Scott Flood signed an "irrevocable" letter of resignation as head of the Alton-based Region 4 of the IDNR, a job that paid $70,000 a year. Undercover watchdogs for the governor's office of the Executive Inspector General determined though surveillance and witnesses that he:

* Slept on his office floor during working hours.

* Drove his girlfriend to a state park in a publicly owned pickup during his duty shift and regularly used the truck for personal use.

* Conducted personal business during work hours.

* Failed to disclose outside employment as a bartender and as the owner of a financial investment firm.

* Used state email for personal communication and ran up $379 on his state-owned cellphone by making nearly 13 hours worth of private calls during a four-month period. His resignation letter stated he would repay taxpayers for the cost of personal calls.

* Showed up at work late and left early.

The governor's inspector general Ricardo Meza initially recommended that Flood be fired and barred from further state employment. Instead, he was allowed to resign and the hiring ban was rejected by the IDNR, which allowed Flood's resignation letter to be extended about a month so he could be vested in the State Employee's Retirement System.

Flood is the son of former county clerk and Democratic politician Sam Flood, who once served as the downstate liaison for former Gov. Rod Blagojevich and as director of the IDNR.

The decision to hire Flood was made by the Public Building Commission.

Mark Kern, who as St. Clair County Board chairman, recommended the hiring of Scott Flood to fill a vacancy created by a retirement, was aware of Flood's employment history with the state. Kern said Flood's past employment with the county was exemplary. Flood worked for the county from 1985-2003 and rose to the position of head of maintenance for the Juvenile Detention Center.

"There was never a problem with his performance," Kern said. "He knows the (county offices) building. He hit the ground running."

Frank Heiligenstein of Freeburg, a Democrat and member of the County Board, said he was "totally surprised" by the hiring of Scott Flood.

"I haven't seen him in a long time," Heiligenstein said. "We'll have to see what he does do and doesn't do going forward."

Another County Board member, O'Fallon Republican Craig Hubbard, said, "I was told a long time ago, the Democrats take care of their own."

Contact reporter George Pawlaczyk at gpawlaczyk@bnd.com and 239-2625.