JOLIET – Two new associate judges will join the 12th Circuit Court in Will County while one current judge was not retained.
The Administrative Office of Illinois Courts announced last week attorneys Elizabeth Hoskins Dow and Kenneth Zelazo were selected from among 45 candidates to replace retirees Marilee Viola and Joseph Polito.
Will County’s 16 circuit judges meet to review applicants and confidentially select two finalists for each position. The Supreme Court then sends a ballot with those names for each circuit judge to mail in and notifies the chief judge of the final result.
Hoskins Dow, of Bailey and Glasser, attended Yale University and received her law degree from Boston College Law School.
Zelazo, of the Law Office of Bob O’Dekirk, attended Marquette University and received his law degree from Loyola University.
Hoskins Dow and Zelazo will be sworn in July 1, the day after Domenica “Dede” Osterberger’s term as an associate judge will expire.
Osterberger, who hears misdemeanor traffic cases, was one of only eight judges statewide not reappointed for another four-year term. The other 17 associate judges received approval from at least nine of the Will County circuit judges.
Osterberger, a former Will County assistant state’s attorney, became an associate judge in 2010. Osterberger was on the bench Friday, but did not return a message left asking for comment.
Osterberger is the fourth Will County associate judge not to be retained since 1991.