How much is Sotos paid?

Did Judge Gordon Graham really allow County Board Chairman Ken Koehler to get away with a non-answer to a question the good judge asked yesterday?

When a judge asks a witness a question, then he should get an answer - the answer. Instead, it appears that Ken Koehler ducked the answer and the judge let it pass. Thumbs down on both actions.

According to this morning's Northwest Herald, Judge Graham asked Koehler "at which rate private attorney Jim Sotos, who represents the sheriff in some cases, is paid." (The quote is from the article, not necessarily Judge Graham's exact words."

Again, from the article, "County Board Chairman Ken Koehler said that Sotos is mostly paid through insurance."

Let's see; how do I restrain myself, remain professional, and not call that answer by what it really was.

Judge Graham should have cast one glance at Koehler and just waited. And waited. And waited. Until Koehler answered the question. Or he could have said, "Chairman Koehler, I'm going to give you ten seconds to answer the question that I asked. Your time starts now."

Eleven seconds later Judge Graham should have called his bailiff and directed Koehler taken to the lock-up.

Do you think people would stop messing with judges, if that happened.

So, how much per-hour does Sotos bill the County for work for he does for Sheriff Nygren, regardless of who pays it.

If Judge Graham agreed to pay special prosecutors Thomas McQueen and Henry Tonigan at the hourly rate of $250, then the County should have paid them a long time ago. All the whining and crying by the County Board is nothing but malingering and politicking. McQueen and Tonigan ought to sue McHenry County, and throw in damages, too.

Illinois Appellate Prosecutor Charles Colburn is quoted as having said, "Public service is not a pot of gold." Books could be written about that statement, but let's just apply it to a lawyer's cutting his hourly rate from $500 to $250. Just because that is higher than the statutory rate earned by the State's Attorney doesn't have a thing to do with anything. Nice words, but ...

Oh, can't pass this up. Public service is not a pot of gold? Toss that question at Sheriff Nygren. How many weeks of vacation does he take in a year? For example, last year - a month-long vacation to the Panama Canal plus how many other weeks?

And now? One of his in-crowd deputies gets nailed for Predatory Criminal Sexual Assault on a Child, and where is Nygren? Enjoying the snow in Minocqua.