McHenry Sheriff fights deputy's reinstatement

McHenry County Sheriff Keith Nygren is fighting a judge's and arbitrator's ruling that a former sheriff's deputy and political rival of Nygren should be reinstated.

Nygren plans to appeal a ruling that former Deputy Zane Seipler should have been suspended for three days instead of fired by Nygren in November 2008.

Nygren fired Seipler for two incidents in which he cited passengers rather than drivers for petty traffic offenses. In September, a McHenry County judge agreed that the arbitrator acted within his authority to overturn Seipler's termination.

Seipler, who unsuccessfully challenged Nygren in the 2010 Republican primary, called the appeal a “stall tactic.”

In the past, Seipler has admitted he made mistakes when he cut breaks to two drivers that did not have licenses by ticketing their female passengers instead.

“It just makes sense to take it to the appellate court,” Nygren said. “Is it important to the public to not have police officers who have arrested people for doing nothing wrong on the force.”

Nygren's attorneys are expected to file written arguments to the appellate court in the next couple of weeks.