The reappointment of ISBA Assembly member Lori G. Levin as executive director of the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority was confirmed recently by the State Senate.

Appointed to head the authority in 2003, she has initiated a program of computer integration of elements of the system: prosecutors, law enforcement officers and clerks of the circuit courts in Illinois.

Levin also has obtained grants for the benefit of law enforcement, corrections, elder abuse and violence against women, and she is seeking funds for expansion of projects for mentally ill defendants in the Cook County jail.

A profile in the April issue of the newsletter of the ISBA Committee on Government Lawyers traced Levin's choice of a career in the law after receiving a degree in journalism at the University of Illinois.

While participating in a clinical program at the Georgetown University Law Center, she was one of four law students chosen to work at the U.S. attorney's office in Alexandria, Va.

As a third-year student, she tried two federal felony cases – an opportunity she calls a pivotal point in her future. She returned to Illinois and joined the office of Cook County state's attorney.

Levin practiced in Juvenile Court and Criminal Court, and was first chair in a felony courtroom for a decade before being named supervisor of the Seniors and Persons with Disabilities Division.

Her responsibilities included working with the ISBA Committee on Mental Health Law on legislation relating to elder abuse issues and involuntary commitment of the mentally ill.

In time, Levin became a member of the committee and was its chair in 2002-03. She also served on the Elder Law Section Council.

She is currently a member of the ISBA Criminal Justice Section Council, the Com-mittee on Continuing Legal Education, and the Special Committee on Over-representation of Minorities in the Criminal Justice System.

Levin also is past president of the Women's Bar Association of Illinois. She has been re-elected unanimously as chair of the Illinois Integrated Justice Information Systems Implementation Board.