Circuit shorts

Jorgensen to appeals bench

Chief Judge Ann B. Jorgensen of the 18th Circuit has been appointed to the Illinois Appellate Court, 2nd District, and will be installed July 7. She has been a judge for 19 years and chief judge since 2005.

Judge Jorgensen, a member of the ISBA Bench and Bar Section Council, succeeds Justice Thomas E. Callum, who will retire July 6. Her appointment will expire Dec. 6, 2010. The 18th Circuit judges will meet this month to elect a new chief.

Simultaneously, 18th Circuit Judge Michael J. Burke was assigned to the appellate bench, effective July 7. A judge since 1992, he will replace retiring Justice Robert E. Byrne but will retain his status as a circuit judge.

To fill the Jorgensen vacancy, the Illinois Supreme Court named Judge Richard M. Stock, who had served since the retirement of Edward R. Duncan. Stock will serve until December 2010.

Associate Judge Blanche Hill Fawell was appointed to the Duncan vacancy, and Associate Judge Peter J. Dockery was named to the Byrne vacancy. Both are now circuit judges.

There are 21 candidates for an 18th Circuit associate judge opening.

Presiding judge named

Following the death of Cook County Judge Thomas F. Carmody Jr. on April 20, Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans appointed Judge David P. Sterba two days later to succeed him as presiding judge of the 5th Municipal District in Bridgeview.

Assigned to Bridgeview after his 1996 election to the circuit court, Sterba heard misdemeanors before moving to a felony courtroom in 1998 and occasionally serving as acting presiding judge in Carmody's absence.

He chaired the district's federally funded Community Traffic Safety Initiatives Committee from 1998 to 2003 and spearheaded programs on safety belt awareness in elementary schools and alcohol awareness in high schools.

Sterba had served in the 5th Municipal District as a deputy sheriff from 1979 to 1984, and an assistant state's attorney from 1985 to 1990. After that, he practiced criminal defense and personal injury litigation, and was legal counsel to the Alsip Fire and Police Commission.

A 1984 graduate of The John Marshall Law School, Sterba has been a South Suburban Bar Association board member and a director of its pro bono program.

Hudson to chair JIB

Chief Judge Donald C. Hudson of the 16th Circuit will become chair of the Illinois Judicial Inquiry Board next month. A member of the judiciary since 1993, he was appointed to the JIB last year.

Hudson will succeed Chicago attorney Jill W. Landsberg, who has been a board member for eight years. The expiration of her second term will increase the number of JIB vacancies to four.

Other members are Cook County Judge John O. Steele, a past president of the Illinois Judges Association who serves as vice chair, and Tom Leahy of Leahy & Hoste, Chicago, a past president of the ISBA.

Magistrates continue

Magistrate Judges P. Michael Mahoney and Geraldine Soat Brown of U.S. District Court for the Northern District have been reappointed to eight-year terms. Mahoney has served four terms. This will be Brown's second term.

Recent appointments

Rock Island attorney Frank R. Fuhr has been appointed an associate judge of the 14th Circuit. He has been a partner in McCarthy, Callas, Fuhr & Ellison.

Swansea attorney Randall W. Kelley was sworn in April 9 as an associate judge of the 20th Circuit. A public defender for four years, he succeeds James Radcliffe, who retired from the bench in January and is now associate director of the Lawyers' Assistance Program.

Belleville attorney John O'Gara was appointed St. Clair County public defender on April 8 to replace Randall Kelley.

Retirements announced

Judge Robert J. Eggers of the 7th Circuit in Springfield announced in March that he will retire from the bench July 29. He was an associate judge from 1991 until his election to the circuit court in 1996.

The former pharmacist and 1975 John Marshall Law School graduate previously was a state and federal prosecutor, an attorney for the Illinois Pollution Control Board and a member of three law firms.

Justices to be feted

Appellate Justices Robert E. Byrne and Thomas E. Callum of the 2nd District, who will retire in July, will be honored during a retirement party from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, June 26, at the Arrowhead Golf Club in Wheaton.

Members and guests of the DuPage County bench and bar are invited to attend. Call (630) 653-7779 for details.

Prosecutor moves on

Assistant Tazewell County state's attorney Kirk Schoenbein of Morton began a new position as federal prosecutor in Peoria on March 24.

Council taps jurist

Appellate Justice Kathryn E. Zenoff of Rockford, former chief judge of the 17th Circuit, has been invited by the Council of State Governments Justice Center to assist in heading its Criminal Justice/Mental Health Leadership Initiative.

A member of the initiative's advisory group since it was formed two years ago, Zenoff led a 70-member Winnebago County task force that established one of the first mental health courts in the state.

Courthouse to expand

Ground was broken April 17 for the 14-month, 135,000-square-foot, $34.5 million expansion of the 16th Circuit Courthouse in Yorkville. Approved last month by the Kendall County Board, the construction is expected to be completed in the spring or summer of 2010.

Three courtrooms will be added in the first phase. One will house Juvenile Court, which has been convening in what was designed as a jury selection room.

Space will be available for five more trial courtrooms in the future. The expansion is planned to accommodate population growth through 2030 in Kendall County, which grew 77 percent from 2000 to 2007.

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