Grundy County State’s Attorney Sheldon Sobol has been elected Grundy County’s new associate judge.
Cynthia Y. Cobbs, director of the administrative office of the Illinois Courts, announced Friday, Feb. 4, that Sobol received a majority of the votes cast by the circuit judges in the 13th Judicial Circuit and is declared to be appointed to the office of associate judge.
“As I went through law school, I had in the back of my mind I would like to be a judge,” Sobol said Friday. “When I applied to law school, I asked for letters of recommendation from Judges Wilder and Wren. It has come full circle and now I get to sit in the same courtrooms they did and serve the community.”
Sobol, 49, graduated Morris Community High School in 1980 and went on to Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, where he double majored in education and political science. He went on to get his Juris Doctor in 1990 from John Marshall in Chicago.
He worked as a private litigation attorney until Sept. 11, 2001, when he became Grundy County State’s Attorney. He moved from private practice to state’s attorney because he wanted to serve the public.
“I saw an opportunity for public service in an area very good to me,” Sobol said. “I wanted to give something back.”
Sobol feels his greatest accomplishment as state’s attorney was being a member of the group that organized drug court in Grundy County.
“I’m proud of the fact that we got drug court started,” he said, “to give people a chance to turn their life around instead of becoming repeaters in the justice system.”
Judge Robert Marsaglia, in fact, credits Sobol with being the driving force behind drug court.
“He was the driving force in drug court. If it wasn’t for him, it never would of happened,” Marsaglia said. “Sheldon has a lot of energy, is smart and hard working; he is an asset to the courthouse.”
The Supreme Court of Illinois authorized appointment of an associate judge to fill the vacancy due to the election of Associatie Judge Lance Peterson to a newly created circuit judge position in last November’s elections.
Lawyers who were interested in the associate position had to go through an application process, as well as be subjected to an Illinois Bar Association poll, before the eight 13th Judicial Circuit judges voted on the position.
“It was a very difficult process; there were so many on the list,” Marsaglia said. “Sobol is an outstanding person and it was clear from the bar poll that he was held in high regard and had a tremendous amount of respect from his colleagues.”
Judge Lance Peterson said Sobol’s credentials were outstanding, as were those of many of the other applicants.
“We are honored to have him,” Peterson said. “To have a third judge in our local system will benefit the community.”
Sobol is scheduled to be sworn into the four-year position by Chief Judge H. Chris Ryan Jr. during a ceremony in the Grundy County Courthouse at 1:30 p.m. on Monday, March 7. Following his initial term, he will be subject to reappoint after review.
In the meantime, the Grundy County Democratic Central Committee will begin to look at candidates interested in the state’s attorney position. After an application process, the central committee will recommend to the Grundy County Board a candidate to fill Sobol’s position.
Because Sobol is an elected Democrat, the position must be filled with another Democrat.
Sobol was born in Oak Park, Ill., the son of Edwin and Patricia Sobol. In 1991, he was licensed to practice law in the state of Illinois. From May 1991 to December 1996, he was an associate in the law firm of James D. Montgomery & Associates in Chicago.
From January 1997 until September 2001, he was an associate partner in the law firm of Gomien, Harrop & Sobol. In September 2001, Sobol was appointed Grundy County State’s Attorney. He was elected to that position in 2002, and will continue in that position until his swearing in to the bench.
Sobol is a member of the Grundy County Bar Association, the National District Attorney’s Association, the Illinois State’s Attorneys’ Association (president 2010-2011), the Board of Governors Illinois State’s Attorneys Appellate Prosecutors (secretary from 2008 to present), Illinois State Bar Association, and the Chicago Bar Association from 1991 to 1996.
Sobol has been a member of the Morris Hospital Board since 2005; past-president of the Morris Kiwanis; Morris Warriors Youth Football Organization (president since 2007); Breaking Away domestic violence victim support (president since 2001); a United Way board member from 1998 to 2001; and a board member of Sportsmen for Charities from 2001 to 2008.
He and his wife, Laurie, have three sons — Reese, Griffin and Keagan.