Police Department To Stay

There’s a new face on the Merrillan Police Department. The committee of the whole voted unanimously to name Mike Johnson as village marshal. Johnson is retired from the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department where he worked for 13 years.

Johnson replaces Kelly Bakken who resigned in September. Tom Cooper had been serving as interim village marshall, but he’ll stay with the Merrillan Police Department.

The village had discussed disbanding its police department, and contracting with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department after Bakken and another officer resigned.