New First Assistant State's Attorney

Norman D. Vinton has been appointed to serve as First Assistant of the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office. Louis A. Bianchi, McHenry County State’s Attorney, appointed Vinton to the position effective March 6.

Vinton is a founding partner at the Woodstock law firm of Michling, Hofmann, Vinton, Plaza & Wick, PC, a general practice firm located near the Woodstock Square. Vinton primarily handles civil litigation and business law at the firm.

He originally joined the former law firm of Weisz & Michling in 1991 as an associate attorney, and was named a partner in the then-law firm of Weisz Michling Hofmann in 1999.  Vinton has practiced law in the McHenry County courts as a litigator for twenty years, and, last fall, his peers rated him the highest of all applicants in the McHenry County Bar Association Judicial Candidate poll in the areas of Integrity and Overall Qualifications.

Vinton is a cum laude graduate of Northern Michigan University, which he attended while actively serving in the United States Air Force at K.I. Sawyer Air force Base located just south of Marquette, MI.  Vinton served four years in the United States Air Force as a security police officer.  During his service, Vinton led an airbase ground defense team, managed the base’s small weapons armory, and, was honorably discharged in 1982 at the rank of Staff Sergeant.

The newly appointed First Assistant State’s Attorney Vinton is a 1989 graduate of DePaul University College of Law.  He attended law school while holding a full-time job as a corporate and industrial security manager for Spiegel, Inc. in Chicago.  Vinton worked at Spiegel for a decade, during which time he managed a staff of more than a hundred employees and was responsible for the security of all corporate office and warehouse facilities.  As part of his job duties at Spiegel, Vinton coordinated with law enforcement investigations and prosecutions of internal crime.

Vinton resides in Crystal Lake with his wife Liz.  They have two children, David and Sarah.  David is a sophomore at the University of Dubuque in Iowa, where he is majoring in criminal justice and is a member of the wrestling team. Sarah is a freshman at Prairie Ridge High School and is a member of the cheer team.