advertisement

New Lake County state’s attorney, clerk, coroner sworn in Monday

With his right hand raised, Michael Nerheim calmly stared ahead at Lake County Chief Judge Fred Foreman and took his oath of office.

Only later was it revealed that, on his first day in his new job at the top legal authority of Lake County, the new state’s attorney was suffering from some sort of flu bug.

“I’ve been fighting it all morning,” he said with a smile. “But, I’m excited and honored to have been sworn in by Chief Judge Fred Foreman.”

Nerheim, along with new Circuit Court Clerk Keith Brin and new Coroner Thomas Rudd took their oath of office in front of a packed courtroom at the Lake County Government Center in Waukegan early Monday morning.

John Phillips, Daniel Shanes, Thomas Schippers and Patricia Fix also were sworn in as judges.

The swearing in ended the terms of Sally Coffelt as circuit court clerk, Artis Yancey as coroner, and Michael J. Waller as state’s attorney.

“Right now, I’m looking for a ride home because I turned in my county car,” Waller said with a laugh. “But, seriously, I’m happy. It was time for me to move on and Mike will be a great state’s attorney.”

The 30-minute ceremony also included a swearing in ceremony for all the assistant state’s attorneys, including Chief Deputy of the Criminal Division Jeffrey Pavletic and Chief of the Criminal Division Steve Scheller.

Brin said he was happy to be a part of the festive event.

“It was very exciting,” he said. “Now, I’m just ready to start the work of the clerk.”

Brin, Rudd, Nerheim and Lake County Recorder of Deeds Mary Ellen Vanderventer were elected to their positions in November.

Vanderventer was not sworn in Monday, having already been sworn in late last week, Foreman said.

Nerheim, the first new state’s attorney in Lake County in 22 years, said despite the bug he will be meeting with all the assistant state’s attorneys in the coming days.

“I look forward to getting to work,” he said.

Thomas Rudd
Keith Brin
Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.