Lake County State’s Attorney Chief of Juvenile Justice Karen Levi was promoted Dec. 9 to chief deputy for restorative justice and training.

“Karen Levi has been recognized as an outstanding leader and prosecutor within the Lake County legal community and beyond,” State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart said in a news release. “Karen is precisely the leader and teacher that we need to make sure that we expand our Drug Court, Mental Health Court, Veterans Treatment Court, and other rehabilitation programs for years to come.”

Levi has been the chief of juvenile justice for the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office since 2020. She has led the office’s efforts to hold youth accountable while also addressing the root causes of crime. Levi has led the Juvenile Justice Council since 2021, and the Illinois Supreme Court named her to the Supreme Court Committee on Juvenile Courts in 2023. In 2025, she was appointed to the Illinois Judicial Task Force on Juvenile Detention Practices.

“I am so incredibly proud to work for an office that recognizes the importance of rehabilitation in the criminal justice system,” Levi said in the release. “I’m excited to now lead so many amazing prosecutors and staff in the critical work of safely and efficiently scaling up our local programs that have helped so many people.”

Levi has delivered numerous presentations to law enforcement, bar associations, and the community regarding both the technical aspects of juvenile law and the important social issues around juveniles committing crime. She also has presented to numerous educators and police officers about how to make our children safer in our schools and in our community.

“We are reducing crime in Lake County with a holistic approach to addressing crime and safety in our community,” Rinehart said. “After we created the Violent Crimes Unit and upgraded our internal forensics lab, homicides, shootings, armed robberies, and many other violent crimes have decreased according to police and coroner data. At the same time, our rehabilitation programs are helping nonviolent offenders receive the services they need so that they don’t escalate in their offenses and hurt people. Despite these past successes, challenges remain. Our nonviolent cases are moving too slow, and not enough services are reaching nonviolent offenders.”

Under the office’s new structure, the new chief of juvenile justice (Levi’s former job), the chief of specialty courts, the diversion coordinator, and the deflection coordinator will report to Levi. Levi will use her training experiences around juvenile prosecutions to lead the office’s work with law enforcement in all areas. She also will be responsible for internal office training, working closely with division chiefs to ensure the staff is exposed to regular and valuable trainings.