Peoria County Sheriff Mike McCoy is leaving at the end of the month to take the Chief of Police job in Washington, Illinois.
McCoy is the third Peoria County Elected Official to leave office in about six months. That means the Peoria County Board has a method in place that goes with Election Code as specified by the Illinois Constitution to fill the vacant positions.
But the sheriff’s office is a little different according to the state constitution. Peoria Public Radio’s Tanya Koonce reports:
The majority democrat Peoria County Board has the obligation to fill the position with a person who is of the same political party as the elected official vacating the office, in this case a republican.
But the Illinois Constitution also makes a county sheriff responsible for formally handing over all the major parts of the office for which a sheriff is legally responsible. Think along the lines of the jail and the prisoners in it.
Peoria County Board Chairman Andrew Rand says over the last 15 years McCoy has been in office he’s developed a great staff. “Recent reorganization of the department after last year’s budget reductions which included some pretty stiff cuts to the sheriff’s department, he’s reorganized it further. I think his command staff are largely very very competent professional and they are part of the sheriff’s plans to make sure whatever time, whatever day of life came a long that he made a different decision that the department could go on.”
To that end, the sheriff has picked his Jail Supervisor Brian Asbell. Sheriff McCoy says Asbell is the person most qualified to take the job. In fact, McCoy will make the transition out of office June 29th and Asbell will take it.
But that’s not necessarily the end of the process. Rather it starts the 60 day clock the Peoria County Board has to fill the position.
Board Chairman Rand says in the process of filling the Auditor and Treasurer offices the county board took public applications, “and reviewed them and vetted them through a committee ops point. You know, to develop consensus, because my duty is to appoint a member of the party that vacated the office.”
But Rand says that’s not his only obligation. “I’m one vote. I happen to be the chairman. I get to name a name. But I also have to make sure that we get a strong endorsement in the ratification of that appointment.”
However Rand says the Sheriff’s Office is a little bit different than the treasurer or auditor positions and it may not make sense to go through the application process. In fact, he says when it comes to appointing a Sheriff the county needs to know they have someone with a specialized skill set and Brian Asbell has that.
Further, Rand says the partisan part of the consensus building is also set. “Carol Hornickle, Chairperson of the Peoria County Republican Party, has already advised me of the Peoria County Republicans’ recommendation of Brian Asbell, much like the sheriff’s recommendation.”
The Peoria County Board democratic caucus is this evening. They have at least a couple of matters to consider.
The county board is also still trying to fill the position of long-time democratic member Mike Phelan. Phelan resigned after he was elected Mayor of Peoria Heights.
The other matter democrats will undoubtedly need to weigh, is the appointment of Brian Asbell. No matter how qualified he is, his appointment means he will be Peoria County Sheriff for about 18-months before the next election when he would mostly likely take the Republican nomination.
Statistically, incumbents win.
Coincidentally, the Board Chairman’s interview for this story happened at Bartonville Village Hall Wednesday. That’s where Bartonville Police Chief Brian Fengel’s announced his democratic candidacy for sheriff.