No charges in Lake Co. sheriff race shenanigans

A Lake County sheriff's office dispatcher caught throwing a political opponent's campaign signs into the garbage outside her office will not be prosecuted, officials said last week.

Shantal Taylor, who wound up being the top vote-getter in a race for Zion city commissioner, was placed on administrative leave earlier this month while the sign incident was investigated. Sheriff Mark Curran said Taylor was seen throwing some of her opponent's signs into the garbage outside the sheriff's Libertyville facility. Curran said the matter was investigated internally, then referred to the state's attorney's office for review.

Assistant State's Attorney Steve Scheller said no charges will be filed because the person the dumped signs advertised for is not interested in pursuing prosecution. In addition, Scheller said, there was no real evidence as to how Taylor came to be in possession of the signs and if they had not been purposely removed from a legal area for their display no crime had been committed. Curran said Taylor served a period of unpaid suspension, and has since returned to work.

Law Day

About 300 students from high schools throughout Lake County came to the courthouse May 1 for the annual observance of Law Day. The students were escorted by assistant state's attorneys and public defenders to a number of activities designed to increase their knowledge and appreciation of the law. There was a mock trial involving a purse snatching incident, a presentation on voting eligibility by county Clerk Willard Helander, a re-enactment of a reckless homicide sentencing and tours of the county jail and coroner's offices. Students from Stevenson, Wauconda, Grant, North Chicago, Waukegan and Zion-Benton high schools took part in the activities.

Grant sought

Lake County court officials are seeking federal help in financing their Mental Health Court program. State's Attorney Michael Waller said his office has applied for a $200,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance. He said if awarded, the grant would be paid out over two years and would help cover the salaries for an assistant state's attorney and an assistant public defender for full-time assignment to the program. Currently, those positions are filled by attorneys who have other assignments elsewhere in the courthouse and work on Mental Health Court cases on a part-time basis.