15 DeKalb, Kendall county area lawyers under consideration for associate judge vacancy

SYCAMORE - According to DeKalb County court officials, 15 area lawyers are under consideration for the vacant associate judge seat in DeKalb County.

The seat of associate judge was made vacant in March when judge Philip Montgomery was appointed to the 23rd Judicial Circuit Court, which serves DeKalb and Kendall counties.

As of May 18, more than a dozen have been certified by the Administrative Office of Illinois Courts after filing applications for Montgomery’s vacant associate judge seat, said DeKalb County Chief Judge Bradley Waller.

Those include a number of private practice attorneys and prosecutors: Lisa F. Accardi, Carlo D. Colosimo, Jill K. Konen, Diane M. Para, Daniel V. Transier, Russell A. Baker, Michelle M. Dietrich, David Lee, Charles G. Rose, Richard W. Warner, Dale J. Clark, Carrie A. Gorup, Riley N. Oncken, Scott A. Schwertley and Karen L. Wilkerson.

Schwertley currently serves as a prosecutor in the DeKalb County State’s Attorney’s Office, and Dietrich works as a public defender in DeKalb County court. Sycamore-based private attorney, Oncken, is on the Primary Election ballot on June 28 as a contender against 23rd Judicial Circuit Court Judge Marcy Buick.

Wilkerson is a lawyer based in DeKalb. Colosimo, Gorup, Warner and Accardi are Oswego-based private attorneys. Konen, Clark and Rose are private attorneys based in Sycamore, and Para is a private attorney based in Naperville. Transier practices law in Yorkville, and Baker is a prosecutor in the Grundy County State’s Attorney’s Office. Lee is an attorney based in Aurora.

According to Illinois law, the vacant seat will be filled by an appointee until the next election. The candidate filing window has closed for the general election in November, so the appointee to the associate seat will serve until the next election.