Morris City Council appoints Christopher Dearth as city attorney

MORRIS – The Morris City Council appointed a new city attorney at its meeting Monday night. Former City Attorney Scott Belt resigned at the meeting and will be sworn in Friday as an associate judge in the 13th Circuit Court.

After accepting Belt’s resignation, the council in a unanimous vote, 8-0, passed the appointment Christopher Dearth of Law Offices of Christopher M. Dearth, P.C., as city attorney for the remainder of fiscal 2020-21. Belt thanked the council for its work over the past 20 years, saying that council members have done a lot of good work together and that it was a pleasure to work for the city of Morris.

“I am excited for my new venture,” Belt said. “But I will certainly miss working with the council.”

“It is bittersweet to accept the resignation of Scott Belt,” Morris Mayor Richard Kopczick said. “We are happy for him to begin his career as a judge, but we will miss working with him as the city attorney. Fortunately, he has left us in good hands with Christopher Dearth.”

Dearth has strong roots in the community and is a fourth-generation Grundy County resident. His family owns and operates a number of construction companies located in and around the county. He is the son of Mike and Terri Dearth of Coal City and graduated from Coal City High School in 2003.

He graduated from Eastern Illinois University in 2007 with a Bachelor of Science in business finance. Dearth earned his law degree from Thomas M. Cooley Law School in 2011 and has been licensed to practice law in Illinois since Nov. 10, 2011.