SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Marcus Hargrett spent 35 years patrolling the perimeter of the Cook County Jail and arresting troublemakers.
Now retired, the 63-year-old Chicago resident believes federal law allows him to carry a concealed weapon anywhere in the country. But state administrators have blocked him and other retired sheriff’s deputies who worked as jail officers or courtroom bailiffs from doing so.
The Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board’s definition of who’s eligible under the federal Law Enforcement Officers of 2004 precludes jail and court officers.
Complicating matters is a seemingly contradictory application process that discourages Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart from signing required documentation for the retirees and finger-pointing between Dart and the standards board.
