A comment from “Forensic Consultant;”
As a forensic consultant who has worked not only for the Cook County Medical Examiner but for various coroners over many years in Lake, McHenry, Kane DuPage and Will County I have seen the good and bad.
In general the elected Coroner (who is the second highest law enforcement official in the county and the only one who can if necessary, arrest the Sheriff.) needs to be an elected official.
Not appointed.
Part of the check and balance system.
McHenry has been hobbling along for many months now without a true Coroner.
In
- Kane an ex law enforcement officer Rob Russel)
- DuPage Trauma surgeon (Dr Jorgensen)
- Lake Forensic Dentist/DMORT WMD Team member (Dr Cooper) Will
- Funeral Profesional and multiple term elected (Pat O’Neill)
. all have done outstanding jobs.
Will Mr Franks appoint a crony or someone who has a serious background?
Politics being as it is, I’d suspect someone with no adequate background who will be in the debt of Mr Franks.
Someone qualified needed to step up for the election.
Stalling on Franks part intentionally or not leaves McHenry in the lurch.
I no longer reside in Illinois so have no personal benefit here.
Election gives the citizens of MCHenry a real voice.
Ok. As a police officer, I can tell you thus is just wrong.
The Sheriff does not have some kind of a executive immunity or arrest authority that trumps other police officers.
If he commits a crime he can be arrested by any sworn law enforcement officer in the County.
For example, if he commits a crime in Woodstock, Woodstock PD, the Illinois State Police, or the FBI could all investigate and arrest the Sheriff.
If he commits a crime in unincorporated McHenry County, the FBI and the ISP and even his own deputies (if they were willing) could investigate and arrest him.
The whole coroner can arrest the Sheriff is a throwback to a time when the statute was written well over 100 years ago when many rural counties in illinois had no municipal police departments and before ISP was established in 1922.
In other words the days when sheriff was only law enforcement officer in town.
Those days are long gone.
This is just bad information.
Read the one appellate decision in this state describing an effort by a coroner to arrest a sheriff.
Then cite me examples of such arrests.
Then tell me when a sheriff ought to have been attested but no one tried.
You’ll have undercut that argument for keeping coroners as separate elected officials.
Who can arrest the States Attorney or how can one be removed from office besides losing an election?
Great article
Why wasn’t Nygren ever arrested? Crime does pay, if you’re high enough in a corrupt system.
Zinke, Nygren’s cash-caddy, got the heave-ho.
His zoned-out wife shouldn’t have ever gotten behind the wheel of fortune.
https://www.nwherald.com/2018/01/08/wife-of-former-mchenry-county-undersheriff-pleads-guilty-to-drug-charge/aosqc15/
There are qualified people who are willing to be the interim coroner with appropriate qualifications…more than a sleep specialist physician!
Frank’s needs to appoint someone or the group of candidates should pursue it legally!