Legislators need to take a long hard look at the top leadership of the Illinois State Police.

It's been more than three months since Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn ushered the former head of the state police out the door and appointed a 29-year-old military veteran as a replacement.

But the Illinois State Senate has yet to hold a confirmation hearing for Jonathon Monken, a West Point graduate and former U.S. Army captain.

Why the delay?

Perhaps it's because Quinn's fellow Democrats in the Illinois Senate don't want to embarrass either Quinn or Monken by holding a serious hearing on the fitness of Quinn's choice. Perhaps legislators are too busy with the budget mess to get around to it. Perhaps they just don't want to do their jobs.

But members of the Senate need to take a hard look at Monken's resume and brief tenure soon because the Illinois State Police is too important to be left without strong, reform-oriented leadership at the top.

Despite his sterling resume and obvious excellent character, Monken's appointment raises serious questions.

He has no law enforcement experience. He has no significant executive experience. He's decades younger than many of the men and women he's expected to lead in the state police. On what basis can he seriously hold himself out as a credible leader of this troubled department?

The Illinois State Police needs a strong leader who will put an end to the clubby, questionable atmosphere fostered by the bosses – Sam Nolen and Larry Trent – appointed by formers Govs. George Ryan and Rod Blagojevich.

Nolen headed the police organization that conducted a sham investigation into criminal activities that occurred during Ryan's administration and gave Ryan a clean bill of health. Federal investigators, however, found otherwise, and Ryan is now in prison.

Trent, who was affiliated with indicted Springfield political power broker William Cellini, presided over a highly secretive department, and he was among the first Blagojevich holdovers shown the door by Quinn.

Unfortunately, Quinn immediately blundered with his choice of Trent's successor. Frankly, he did Monken no favor by appointing him to this difficult job. At the same time, Monken should have known better than to accept it.

Known as the "J-kid" on a law enforcement Web site, Monken has done little since he signed on. A prisoner of the Trent bureaucracy, Monken can do little to change the department atmosphere because he has no independent advisers and no personal or institutional knowledge.

There's not much likely to change at the top because Monken isn't in a position to know what needs to be changed. Monken has tremendous potential as a leader, but he's out of his element.

The state Senate needs to assert itself on this issue. It's too important to continue to ignore.