Confirm State Police Director Who Was Never Cop?
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WBBM/CBS) -- Not everybody likes the idea of a state police director who's never been a cop, and there is still no official action on the man who remains "acting director."
As WBBM Newsradio 780's Dave Dahl reports, Jonathon Monken was never confirmed, and remains on "acting director" status.
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Illinois Senate President John Cullerton is moving a bill to strengthen the role of his chamber in the appointment process.
"Mr. Monken was a controversial appointment, because there were folks in that came to me in the caucus and said he wasn't qualified," Cullerton said. "But the governor made the appointment, so what we did was to, eventually, we put his name into the record, and held off, seeing whether the governor wanted to reappoint him. And with this bill, we will ask the governor to reappoint him, and then we'll have a hearing on him, or not."
Monken, a veteran of the Iraq War, was appointed by Gov. Pat Quinn two years ago. He was only 29 at the time, but had finished in the top 1 percent of his class at West Point in 2002, the Chicago Tribune reported.
The bill, which only affects future appointees, has already passed the state Senate.
