Sheriff hires former chiefs of police for department

Some people collect sports memorabilia. Others accumulate rare coins or valuable stamps.

McHenry County Sheriff Keith Nygren, it seems, collects chiefs of police.

Nygren announced last week he has added another former police chief to his staff with the hiring of Joe Marvin as commander of his Marine Unit.

Marvin is a 28-year police veteran who most recently served as Woodstock's police chief, but also has experience as a patrol officer and member of Lakewood's Marine Unit.

As Marine Unit commander, Marvin will oversee the division of the sheriff's department that patrols the county's portions of the Chain O'Lakes and Fox River. The unit primarily responds to water emergencies, investigates accidents and enforces boating regulations.

Marvin is the third former police chief to be appointed to a high-ranking position within the sheriff's department this year.

In January, Howard Parth, Crystal Lake's former chief, was named chief of court security, a post that puts him in charge of safety at the McHenry County courthouse and the 26 full-time court security officers who work there.

Just a couple weeks before Parth's appointment, the sheriff's office named Daniel Sedlock, a former chief in downstate Ottawa, as chief of its corrections division.

Injured jailer scores legal win: A state appeals court last week handed a legal victory to a former McHenry County correctional officer in his three-year courtroom battle with the county over his access to disability and health-insurance benefits after an injury ended his law enforcement career.

In a unanimous ruling, the Second District Appellate Court of Illinois reversed a lower-court decision that rejected Timothy Phalin's lawsuit against the McHenry County Sheriff's department and ordered the case remanded for trial.

Phalin sued the sheriff's office in 2005 claiming he suffered neck injuries in 1998 and 2001 during altercations with inmates. The injuries, his suit stated, left him unable to perform his duties as a correctional officer, forcing him to seek disability benefits.

Although Phalin did receive temporary benefits, he was denied them on a permanent basis. The sheriff's office argued it was entitled to deny permanent benefits because Phalin went on to work as a financial services associate, proving that his injuries were not "catastrophic."

A McHenry County judge agreed with the sheriff and rejected Phalin's lawsuit before it reached trial.

Without ruling on the merits of either side's claims, appellate justices said in their 12-page ruling that the judge acted too quickly by dismissing the suit without a trial.