Belleville personal injury attorney Christopher T. Kolker and St. Clair County Assistant State's Attorney Joseph D. Christ have been appointed associate judges of the 20th Judicial Circuit.
A runoff election to fill a third vacancy on the associate bench will take place as no candidate received a majority of votes.
Associate judges are chosen by the circuit's elected judges. In the 20th judicial circuit, which includes St. Clair, Monroe, Perry, Randolph and Washington counties, there are 11 circuit judges.
Kolker received his undergraduate degree in 1989 from Arizona State University in Tempe, Ariz., and his law degree in 1998 from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale.
He was admitted into practice by the Illinois Supreme Court in 1998. Kolker, associated with Kolker Law Offices in Belleville, specializes in large personal injury, insurance, bad faith and worker's compensation cases, according to the firm's website.
Christ received his undergraduate degrees in 1986 from Illinois State University in Normal and his law degree in 1993 from Cooley Law School in Lansing, Mich. He was admitted into practice by the Illinois Supreme Court in 1994.
Kolker and Christ appointed associate judges; Runoff to be held for third vacancy
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