Will County Gets Another Associate Judge

JOLIET, IL - The year may be winding down, but it's a busy time at the Will County Courthouse. Last week, Will County Chief Judge Richard Schoenstedt posted a notice that has created more chatter around the courthouse and within Will County's legal community. It turns out that Will County is getting to add another associate judge position.

According to the document, the Illinois Supreme Court has authorized Schoenstedt "to post a notice of vacancy to fill one position in the office of Associate Judge. This position is the result of the 2010 Census-based associate judgeship," the memo reads.

According to U.S. Census Bureau data, Will County's population grew nearly 35 percent between 2000 and 2010, to about 677,560 people. The Census website indicates Will County's population reached around 689,530 people as of July 2016.

"Applications are now being accepted for this vacancy which will be filled by vote of the Circuit Judges in the Twelfth Judicial Circuit," the notice declares.

Lawyers who file electronically have until 11:59 p.m. January 10. Lawyers who mail or hand deliver their application have until 5 p.m. Jan. 10, the notice states.

At the moment, there's a lot of activity at the Will County Courthouse surrounding who's going to sit on the bench.

A total of 49 Will County lawyers recently applied to fill the other Associate Judge vacancy that was created because of the upcoming retirement of Associate Judge Robert Brumund. He is leaving the bench in January. Last week, Joliet Patch published this story listing all 49 people hoping to fill Brumund's slot. An associate judge currently receives an annual salary of more than $188,000 in Illinois.

The Office of the Chief Judge lists the following as current Will County associate judges:

• Dinah J. Archambeault
• Brian Barrett
• Matthew Bertani
• Bennett J. "Ben"' Braun
• Robert P. Brumund
• Edward A. Burmila, Jr.
• M. Thomas Carney
• Jessica Colon-Sayre
• David Garcia
• Chrystel L. Gavlin
• Frederick V. "Fred" Harvey
• Elizabeth D. Hoskins Dow
• Theodore J. Jarz
• Victoria McKay Kennison
• Cory D. Lund
• Raymond Alexander Nash
• Domenica Ann "Dede" Osterberger
• Roger D. Rickmon
• Arkadiusz Z. "Art" Smigielski
• Kenneth L. Zelazo

Besides the two pending Associate Judge vacancies, there are also two Will County Circuit Court judge races up for grabs in next year's political elections.

One vacancy was created by the January 2017 retirement of Judge Dan Rozak. The other vacancy will be created by the upcoming departure of Circuit Judge Carla Alessio Policandriotes, who informed the Illinois Supreme Court of her intentions to leave the bench next August.

RELATED: 3 Will Compete To Fill Judge Policandriotes' Vacancy

RELATED: Judge Rozak Retirement Draws 4 Candidates For Bench

Image via Joliet Patch Editor John Ferak