Crull sworn in as Ogle County associate circuit judge

OREGON – The new associate judge for the 15th Judicial Circuit thanked his mom for skillfully guiding him away from his first occupational choice – a fur trapper.

“In high school we had a career day,” Russell Crull of Byron said after taking his oath of office Thursday, Nov. 21. “I came home proud as a peacock. I was going to be a fur trapper. Next night mom comes home with every article you could find on how dire the future looked for fur trappers.

“She always pushed me and told me it was OK to expect a lot from yourself,” he continued. “It’s OK to work hard. Thank you for being a tremendous role model.”

Crull, 38, also thanked his dad, family, friends, coworkers, peers, current judges, and his clients during the late-afternoon ceremony, held in Courtroom 202 of the Ogle County Judicial Center.

“There are countless people that I need to thank individually,” Crull said. “I’d like to thank all my clients, I’m not here without them. I’d like to thank them for putting their faith in me and allowing me to gain the experience that I will take with me to the bench.”

He also thanked Dave Tess, of Tess, Crull & Arnquist, of Rochelle, for his guidance.

“Thank you for always mentoring me, for pushing me, for being in my corner, telling me when it was time to go home,” Crull said, also thanking Tess for hiring a young lawyer who “wanted to come home.”

Crull was selected by judges in the circuit, which includes Ogle, Carroll, Jo Daviess, Lee, and Stephenson counties.

He earned his undergraduate degree in 2009 from Western Illinois University in Macomb and his Juris Doctor in 2013 from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb. He was an attorney with Tess, Crull & Arnquist LLC in Rochelle, prior to his appointment.

“I will work hard every day to be an asset on the bench,” Crull said. “I will also do my level best to give back to the circuit by the greatest measure that I possibly can. My goal is to run a courtroom where every litigant knows they will be heard, respected, and the law will be fairly applied. I do not take this responsibility lightly.”

Crull, a lifelong resident of Ogle County and president of the Ogle County Bar Association, was chosen from a field of eight attorneys who applied for the vacancy, prompted by the retirement of Judge John Redington.

Crull will start hearing cases the first week of December.

Attorneys who had also applied for the vacancy were Ogle County Chief Public Defender Kathleen Isley, Assistant State’s Attorney Allison Huntley, Ogle County Assistant Public Defender Michael O’Brien and attorneys Eric Morrow, Maria Berger, Darla Foulker and Amanda Wielgus.