After five associate judges were not reappointed in Madison County, Chief Judge David Hylla has retained two retired judges from the Third Judicial Circuit.
The Illinois Supreme Court announced Tuesday that retired Associate Judge Ralph Mendelsohn and retired Associate Judge Lola Maddox were recalled to serve from July 1 to September 1.
Mendelsohn served as an associate judge in Madison County from 2000 until 2009. Following his retirement, Mendelsohn started his own mediation practice for the Madison County and St. Louis area.
Maddox
Maddox served as an associate judge in Madison County from 1979 to 2004. Following her retirement, she worked as a volunteer attorney for Land of Lincoln Legal Assistance Foundation in Alton.
She briefly came out of retirement in March 2006 when she was reappointed in Madison County to fill the remaining term of retiring Circuit Judge George Moran Jr.
According to the Tuesday announcement, Hylla made a request for the recalled judges after five associate judges in Bond and Madison counties were not retained following the 2015 quadrennial reappointment election.
Illinois Supreme Justice Lloyd A. Karmeier recommended Mendelsohn and Maddox for the position.
“Both are experienced and well-respected jurists who, I am confident, will do an excellent job,” Karmeier stated.
The positions were left vacant after the elected Third Judicial Circuit judges voted to retain eight of the 13 associate judges.
Those who weren’t reappointed are Duane Bailey, Ben Beyers, Donald Flack, David Grounds and Elizabeth Levy.
Associate judges are appointed to their positions through a vote by the circuit’s elected judges. In the Third Judicial Circuit (Madison and Bond counties), which includes Madison County, there are nine elected circuit judges – meaning it takes a minimum of four judges to vote against retaining an associate judge.