Kendall County Board recognizes Tim McCann for retirement as chief judge

YORKVILLE – Kendall County Board members honored retired Kendall County Chief Judge Tim McCann at the beginning of the County Board meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 27 at the county office building.

After presenting McCann a plaque of recognition for his service to the county along with personalized fishing gear, Board Chairman Scott Gryder said he was grateful for all that McCann has done for the county over the years and that he represented the county with dignity in doing so.

“There are certain people who have just a tremendous impact on our county, and Judge McCann is one of those people,” Gryder said.

The recognition comes after McCann first announced his July 9 retirement back in May. Following his retirement, the Illinois Supreme Court appointed Jody P. Gleason as the new 23rd Judicial Circuit Court judge, succeeding McCann.

McCann graduated from Oswego High School in 1977 and earned a bachelor's degree at Aurora University. He went on to earn his law degree at Northern Illinois University.

McCann was elected Kendall County State's Attorney in 1996 and re-elected in 2000 and 2004. He left the state's attorney's office after he was appointed as an associate judge in 2005 and served as chief judge for the 23rd Circuit from 2012 to 2016.

McCann said he appreciated the board honoring him and that he also appreciates the work done by the county board. Even if they disagreed on things, he said, he and board members disagreed as friends.

McCann said he thinks board members being able to disagree while still having valid differing points of view and remain cordial to one another demonstrates the type of morality that is expected of board leaders.

"I think that was really the important part of governing,” McCann said.

Kendall County Sheriff Dwight Baird said he knew McCann through most of Baird's career. Baird said he would call on McCann a lot when Baird first became Oswego police chief at 34 years old and that he will be forever grateful to McCann.

“I don’t know that I would be standing here today if [McCann] didn’t help me out through some of those things,” Baird said.

Kendall County State's Attorney Eric Weis said one of the best jobs he's ever had was being McCann's first assistant when McCann was the county's state's attorney. Weis said McCann was someone you could disagree with but would still have respect for him and his presence has impacted many lives, including those of victims and people within the community.

“You will be missed by more people than you will ever know, by people you probably would never expect or probably have no idea what impact you actually had on their lives over the years that I’ve known you,” Weis said.