Republican Riley Oncken to make bid for DeKalb County state’s attorney in 2024

SYCAMORE – Republican and local lawyer Riley Oncken will seek the DeKalb County State’s Attorney’s Office in 2024.

Oncken’s campaign announced his forthcoming candidacy Wednesday night. Oncken is a general practice lawyer based in Sycamore and has worked, among other areas, as a criminal defense attorney, public defender and in civil court as a family practice and real estate lawyer, according to his law office website.

Oncken said Thursday that he was inspired to run to continue his service to the community and as a successor to outgoing State’s Attorney Rick Amato, who announced earlier this month he won’t seek a third term.

“It’s been something that’s been on my radar for a long time,” Oncken said. “My background is in law enforcement, my education is in law enforcement, so it was something that I always kind of had as a goal. I initially wanted to be a prosecutor when I came out of school, but I realized I enjoyed private sector work, as well.”

After conversations with advisers and his family, Oncken said he decided to run. The candidate filing period doesn’t open until Nov. 27, according to the Illinois State Board of Elections. However, petitions to collect voter signatures could begin to circulate Sept. 5.

A graduate of Northern Illinois University’s law school, Oncken grew up in Sugar Grove and has been a DeKalb County resident for more than two decades. He’s lived in Sycamore for 20 years, where he resides with his wife, Heather, and their four daughters. Oncken double majored in law enforcement and justice administration and political science at Western Illinois University.

Service work has extended for Oncken into the private sector, including volunteer and board work with Sycamore School District 427′s Spartan Food Pantry, the Wally Thurow Tribute Committee, Sycamore Rotary Club, the DeKalb County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, and the NIU College of Law Alumni Council. He also serves on the Sycamore Education Foundation, the Sycamore Police Pension Fund Board, the Sycamore Pumpkin Festival Committee and as treasurer of Goodfellows, a DeKalb and Sycamore nonprofit that provides items for families in need during the holidays. He attends Harvest Chapel Church in Sandwich.

If he wins in 2024, it wouldn’t be Oncken’s first time serving as an elected official. Oncken served two terms as a Republican on the DeKalb County Board from 2008 to 2012 and was appointed to fill the remainder of a term from 2013 to 2015, according to a news release from his campaign.

Oncken also ran an unsuccessful bid for DeKalb County 23rd Judicial Court judge in 2022, losing to incumbent Marcy Buick in the June 2022 primary.

During his time on the County Board, Oncken served on the Board’s Law and Justice Committee.

“It gave me a view of the inside of it,” Oncken said of the ins and outs of the county’s criminal justice system.

While his practice is based in Sycamore, Oncken said he has practiced law throughout northern Illinois, including in Kane, Kendall and Ogle counties.

‘I’ve narrowed my scope or practice over time, but I generally try to help people with whatever they’ve got,” he said.

It’s been 10 days since cashless bail went into effect in Illinois, a significant change to the way pretrial hearings have been conducted throughout the state. In DeKalb County, pretrial hearings now focus on whether judges, prosecutors and defense attorneys can determine a person’s eligibility for release based on a set of new criteria outlined under the controversial SAFE-T Act.

With bond hearings a thing of the past, Oncken weighed in on his thoughts about the new system.

“It’s the law, so we don’t really have a choice but to adapt and to make the best of it,” he said. “I think time will tell whether or not it’s going to be successful or whether it will put too many criminals back on the street.”