JOLIET – The vacancy created when Domenica “Dede” Osterberger was not retained as an associate judge will be filled by ... Domenica “Dede” Osterberger.
The Administrative Office of Illinois Courts announced Thursday that Osterberger was elected by a majority of Will County's 16 circuit judges to serve a four-year term on the bench. While vote totals are confidential, Osterberger may have received the same number as when she wasn't retained in June.
“Illinois is the only state where this can happen,” Chief Judge Richard Schoenstedt said. “It’s a unique way the law is set up, but [her reappointment] is a no -issue. It’s simple math.”
Associate judges are appointed when they receive votes from more than half the circuit judges, but associate judges need 60 percent of the circuit judges’ votes to be retained, Schoenstedt said.
“If the vote for retention was 9-to-7, she didn’t get it, but that same vote, 9-to-7, put her back on,” he said. “She had the support of the majority.”
Osterberger, a former Will County assistant state’s attorney, first became an associate judge in 2010 and heard misdemeanor traffic cases. As a member of the Bar in good standing, she was eligible to apply for the vacancy.
“I’m really happy to have the opportunity to serve the public again,” Osterberger said Thursday.
She declined to comment on the earlier election or why she pursued her own vacancy.
Schoenstedt said Osterberger will start hearing cases again in a few weeks.