Grundy County judge to fill Ottawa appellate vacancy

A Grundy County judge has been tabbed to fill a seat on the 3rd District Appellate Court, replacing a longtime justice who died from Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Monday, Judge Lance R. Peterson was appointed appellate justice for the Ottawa-based appeals court. Peterson’s appointment takes effect Aug. 1, 2022, and lapses Dec. 2, 2024, unless he runs for and wins a new terminal.

Peterson replaces Justice Daniel L. Schmidt, who died July 5 from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a degenerative disease that felled baseball great Lou Gehrig.

“I was saddened by Justice Schmidt’s passing after his valiant battle against ALS,” said Illinois Supreme Court Justice Robert L. Carter, who announced Peterson’s appointment. “Judge Peterson has over 20 years of experience as a judge and has received high marks from attorneys who appear before him.”

Peterson has served on the bench in Grundy County Circuit Court since 2001, first as an associate judge and since 2010 as a circuit judge.

“I am honored and humbled by this appointment. My thoughts and prayers are with the family of Justice Schmidt, who served the citizens of the Third District so admirably for nearly 20 years,” Peterson said. “I want to thank Justice Carter and the other members of the Illinois Supreme Court for their confidence in me. I am committed to serving on the court with honor just as Justice Schmidt did.”

Prior to joining the bench, Judge Peterson served as Grundy County State’s Attorney from 1996 to 2001. He earned his Juris Doctor from The John Marshall Law School, where he served as editor-in-chief of The John Marshall Law Review.

The late Schmidt had an altogether different career path. He spent nine years as a police officer in Peoria before earning a law degree 1983 from Washington University.

Retired La Salle County Sheriff Tom Templeton worked with Schmidt in Peoria and the young officers became “fast friends” who stayed in touch long after Schmidt left for a legal career and then ascended the bench.

“I’ll miss him on the court,” Templeton said, “but I’ll definitely miss him more as a friend.”

Schmidt may have once been a cop but he didn’t always side with police during his stint on the appeals court. He ruled against disgraced cop Drew Peterson, who wanted control of ex-wife Kathleen Savio’s estate despite being a suspect in her disappearance, and against the much-disputed La Salle County State’s Attorney Felony Enforcement Team.

“The prosecution of drug dealers and traffickers is indisputably a duty of the state’s attorney; outfitting his own drug interdiction unit is not,” Schmidt wrote. “Such a statutory construction would effectively give the state’s attorney the power to create and maintain the equivalent of his own police force.”

Schmidt was mourned from the bench, where colleagues marveled at the bravery he showed in the face of terminal illness.

“I was appointed after Dan was diagnosed,” recalled Justice Eugene P. Daugherity. “He faced his illness courageously and never permitted it to interfere with the performance of his duties.”

Daugherity noted he and Schmidt studied cases together as recently as June and that Schmidt was, to the end, “prepared, analytical, knowledgeable, witty and as always a valued contributor.

“He was a wise veteran asset to the court. He will be missed by the court and me personally.”

With Schmidt’s passing, up to five of the seven seats on the appeals court could, by Christmas, have changed hands within a year’s span.

Justices John Hauptman and Joseph Hettel were tabbed in recent months to replace retired justices Vicki Wright and Tom Lytton, respectively. Daugherity’s appointed term lapses in December and Mary K. O’Brien is running for Illinois Supreme Court.

The Third District Appellate Court in Ottawa hears cases appealed from trial courts in seven counties — Bureau, DuPage, Grundy, Iroquois, Kankakee, La Salle and Will counties.