McHenry sheriff may reinstate political rival he fired

McHenry County Sheriff Keith Nygren says he's "willing to try" reinstating a former deputy and staunch political rival after a judge Tuesday upheld an arbitrator's decision to suspend the deputy rather than fire him.

The challenge, Nygren said, will be finding suitable police work for a patrol officer with a history of giving traffic tickets to people who weren't driving.

"It may not be easy, but I'm certainly willing to try," he said. "If, in fact, we do take him back, we have to consider what he's done."

The former deputy, Zane Seipler, has been out of work since Nov. 17, 2008, when the sheriff fired him over two incidents in which he cited passengers rather than drivers for petty traffic offenses. In October, an arbitrator overturned the dismissal and instead reduced it to a three-day suspension, prompting Nygren to take the matter to court.

On Tuesday, McHenry County Judge Thomas Meyer sided with Seipler in finding the arbitrator acted within his authority in overturning the firing. In his order, Meyer said the arbitrator's call did not violate any public policy that otherwise required Seipler to be terminated.

"Rather, it merely finds that under the circumstances, in the instant case, a suspension was warranted rather than termination," the judge ruled.

Seipler, 36, has become a fierce political rival of Nygren since his dismissal, blogging critiques of the sheriff at a website, MCSD Exposed, and challenging him unsuccessfully in the 2010 Republican primary.

Seipler, a four-year deputy, has admitted he made mistakes when he cut breaks to two drivers who didn't have driver's licenses by ticketing their female passengers instead. He said he was "absolutely relieved" Tuesday to learn he might get his job back.

"I think there will be a whole bunch of people who have been quiet about the way things are handled in the sheriff's office happy to have me back and a bunch of people who aren't," he said. "My next step is just to wait and see what the sheriff does."

Nygren said no decisions have been made about how or when Seipler might return to work. He said he would prefer not to appeal, but still needed to talk to his attorney.

"Where I come from, when you perjure yourself and arrest innocent people, you are done being a policeman," he said. "The arbitrator and now a judge are saying we should reinstate him and, frankly, I'm surprised. But that doesn't mean I'm not willing to try. What I have to do is craft some sort of solution that protects not only the taxpayers, but the sheriff's office and the deputy himself."

The judge's decision came as the Better Government Association reported that state police were investigating "things supposedly going on in the sheriff's office."

Seipler said the Better Government Association contacted him regarding politics in McHenry County, but he denied otherwise being involved.

Nygren said he was unaware of an investigation into his office and declined further comment.