Letter: Change how our sheriff is selected

Why do we elect our McHenry County Sheriff? Why is he/she not appointed by the county board after an exhaustive search and vetting process like most towns and cities do for their police chief, fire chief, village manager, public works director, etc.? It makes no sense for all this cost and controversy going on in McHenry County over the candidates qualifications. In the past, a person could have gotten elected with no police experience. How much sense does this make? Even now, all he has to have is a police academy certificate. So that means a cop fresh out of the academy could run. For someone in this position, each county should develop a hiring process or hire an outside firm to recommend the best candidate for the job. Do they have the knowledge, experience and training to handle a department of this size? Has he been in a position of authority in the past with this or another police department? I’ve felt this way for years, and this year reinforces my feelings. It’s time to change how we select our county sheriff.

Jim Callanan

Spring Grove