MOUNT CARROLL – A Lanark attorney is seeking the Democrat nomination for Carroll County resident circuit judge, to replace retiring 15th Judicial Circuit Judge Val Gunnarsson.

Betsy Shaulis, 43, an attorney in Illinois since 2006, is CEO of and practices law with her husband, Kipp Meyers, at Meyers & Shaulis, P.C. Before establishing the firm, she was an associate attorney in Galena and an assistant public defender in Jo Daviess County.

Shaulis has been president of the Carroll County Bar Association since 2013, and is a member of the Stephenson County Women’s Bar Association and the Illinois State Bar Association.

She earned a bachelor's in international relations from Lake Forest College in 1999, a master's in international economics from DePaul University in 2001, and a juris doctorate degree from the University of Tulsa (Oklahoma) College of Law, in 2006.

While a law student, she clerked for Judge Val Gunnarsson and Associate Judge John F. Joyce.

Gunnarsson, 64, told the state Supreme Court in June that he wouldn’t run again. Elected in 2002, and retained in 2008 and 2014, he will have served 18 years on the bench when his term expires on Dec. 7, 2020.

Shaulis also is on the executive committee of Timber Lake Playhouse in Mount Carroll, and is the organization’s secretary and chairwoman of the governance committee. She also is a member of the Cornerstone Project, a nonprofit that works to save historic buildings in Lanark.

The Carroll County native, a 1994 graduate of Eastland High School, is the daughter of David and the late Kathleen (Lower) Shaulis.

She is working on a website and Facebook page; in the meantime, she can be reached at Betsy@meyersandshaulis.com and 815-821-5943.

The 15th Judicial Circuit covers Carroll, Jo Daviess, Ogle, Lee, and Stephenson counties; each county has one resident judge required to be a resident of the county.

The primary election is March 17; the general election is Nov. 3, 2020.