A seat behind the bench

DeKalb County voters will fill several vacancies in the 2nd and 16th Judicial Districts in the 2010 elections beginning with the Feb 2nd Primary.

There are two vacancies for Appellate Court Judge in the Illinois Appellate Court Second District in Elgin.

Ann Jorgensen

Republicans Kenneth Moy will vie with Ann Jorgensen to replace retired Justice Thomas Callum.

Ann Jorgensen was appointed by the Illinois Supreme Court in July of 2008 to fill the vacancy of Justice Callum.

Kenneth Moy

She was appointed to serve as an Associate Judge in the 18th Judicial Circuit in 1989. She was elected Circuit Judge in DuPage County in 1994 and was elected by her fellow circuit judges to serve as the Chief Judge of the 18th Judicial Circuit in 2005.

Kenneth Moy is not new to Illinois courts. He has more than 40 years of experience as a trial lawyer and 10-plus years as a circuit court judge.

Mary Schostok

Republicans Mary Schostok and Donna Kathryn Kelly seek the seat of retired Justice Barbara Gilleran-Johnson.

Mary Schostok was appointed to the Illinois Appellate Court, Second District, on August 2008 by the Illinois Supreme Court. She has served as a Judge in Lake County since 1998 and was the Presiding Judge of the Law Division, as well as Probate, Arbitration, Traffic and Misdemeanor. She also served in the Felony Division, handling trials of serious criminal cases, including murder and robbery.

Donna Kelly

Donna Kathryn Kelly is a graduate of Northern Illinois University College of Law. She is a former assistant state’s attorney in McHenry County, assigned to the Special Prosecutions Division, prosecuting felony cases and she also ran the county’s Gang Prosecutions Unit. She has argued numerous cases before the Appellate Court, and successfully argued two cases before the Supreme Court of Illinois.

In the 16th Judicial District, to fill the vacant seat of retired Judge Robert Peter Grometer, Fred M. Morelli will face Kevin T. Busch in the Republican primary.

Fred Morelli

Fred Morelli has his BA and JD from University of Notre Dame and is a veteran of the Illinois National Guard. He previously served as a Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney, Kane County Head Public Defender, and Associate Judge for the 16th Judicial Circuit. He has over 43 years of legal experience in criminal and civil cases in State and Federal courts. He has done more than 200 jury trials and over 1000 bench trials.

Kevin Busch

Kevin T. Busch is graduate of Eastern Illinois University (B.A.) and the John Marshall Law School (J.D.). He has 24 years of legal experience.  He is currently an Associate Judge in the 16th Judicial Circuit. He was an Assistant State’s Attorney for Kane County from 1985-1992 and was Chief of the Criminal Division, named Prosecutor of the Year in 1989.

Republicans Tom Doherty and Richard D. Larson square off in the Feb. 2 primary to face T. Jordan Gallagher (D) in November for the additional judgeship seat in the 16th Judicial District.

Tom Doherty

Tom Doherty is a long-time resident of DeKalb; educated at St. Mary Catholic and public schools in DeKalb including business degree and Juris Doctorate degree from Northern Illinois University. He was a Sergeant in the Marine Corps Reserves. He has practiced law in the DeKalb area for 23 years, the last six years with his son and partner Mark.

Richard Larson

Richard Larson began his career in Public Service as a Professor at Northern Illinois University.  He later became the Public Defender of DeKalb County (part time while in private practice) and served as an Associate Judge in the 16th Judicial Circuit. He is a graduate of the University of Illinois B.A. (Finance) 1966 and Juris Doctor 1969.