Sheriff in jail

Don't miss Page 3A in today's Northwest Herald and the Associated Press article about Gallatin County (Illinois) Sheriff Raymond Martin.

He was arrested last May for allegedly (gotta remember that word...) selling marijuana while in uniform. (Would it have been a crime in Gallatin County if he hadn't been in uniform?)

Last Saturday "authorities" (the article doesn't say who) arrested him at the jail for plotting (oh, wait; "allegedly" plotting) to kill some so-far-unidentified person. They also arrested his wife and 20-year-old son.

The AP mentioned "murder-for-hire." You mean, somebody tried to hire the sheriff to kill someone?

The seat of Gallatin County is Shawneetown. Martin was in jail in Murphysboro (near Carbondale), which is 65 miles west of Shawneetown - well away from Gallatin County.

And Martin is still sheriff. Just because he has been charged with a crime and has been sitting in jail for much of the six months, doesn't mean he can't still be sheriff of a county in Illinois. Some on the County Board think he ought to resign.

Anyone for recall of elected officials in Illinois now? When is the next election for sheriff in Gallatin County?