Lake County Gazette

In a video series entitled "A View From the Bench," recently retired Judge Theodore Potkonjak shared his experience with Eric Rinehart (D), the Lake County State's Attorney, and how the office and community have been impacted by his policies, saying 'the people of this county are not safer' than they were when Rinehart took office. 

"Since Mr. Rinehart took over, right off the bat there was a mass exodus of assistant State's Attorneys who realized, based on what he was going to do in that office, they did not want to stay there," Potkonjak said. "Never in the 42 plus years that I've been here did you ever see so many people leave the State's Attorney's Office."

"They're leaving because their hands were tied behind their back as being prosecutors and prosecuting the way it should be done, and being forced to undercharge people or negotiate things that shouldn't be negotiated," said Potkonjak. 

The video series, posted by Lake County State's Attorney candidate Mary Cole (R), asks Judge Potkonjak about staffing in the State's Attorney office and the turnover since Rinehart was elected, as well as about the accusations made against Rinehart saying he "undercharged" crimes. 

"The Lake County State's Attorney's office, when it comes to firearm charges, is very very light," Potkonjak said about the accusations. "You see people charged with firearm charges all the time that are negotiated down for probation with lesser charges than what were originally charged. Then, sure enough, you see the person rearrested for more gun charges.”

"The bottom line is, the only way, from the State's Attorney's Office point of view, that you can bring down crime is you got to be tough," he said. "And their office isn't tough."

Potkonjak discussed several instances of recent crimes where the perpetrator was given a lesser charge, including two different fatal shootings that both resulted in a second-degree murder charge instead of a first-degree charge, which Potkonjak thought would have been appropriate. 

"Because of the politics, the people of this county are not safer than they were four years ago. This has nothing to do with party politics, this has to do with the safety of the people of Lake County.”