Belleville attorney Alana I. Mejias, 35, has been appointed St. Clair County associate judge to fill the vacancy left by former associate judge Randall Kelley.
“I am beyond excited,” Mejias said. “This has been sincerely like a lifelong dream.”
“I get to go into work Monday and do what I’ve dreamt about doing,” she added.
Mejias will be sworn in on Thursday and will take the bench on April 2.
Kelley, 66, retired from the bench on March 1, approximately one year before his four-year term would have expired in June 2019.
Mejias, a Democrat, is married to Belleville attorney Lloyd M. Cueto, who practices in personal injury, criminal defense and class actions/mass torts.
Lloyd M. Cueto’s father is former St. Clair County Circuit Judge Lloyd A. Cueto.
Mejias said her father-in-law was a great resource and helped her throughout her judicial pursuit. Her application for the seat formerly occupied by Kelley was the fourth time she had sought an associate judge position.
“He (Lloyd A.) guided me through the process, a lot of people have, and this time around I am very blessed that I was successful,” she said.
Mejias currently works as a partner with Courtney, Clark & Mejias PC in Belleville, where she has focused primarily on family law.
“Family law is primarily what I’ve done, but I’ve handled a variety of other things,” she said.
Mejias said that because the firm is a smaller practice with just three attorneys, she has experience litigating a variety of types of cases.
“Because we were so small, it allowed me to get a taste of all areas of law,” she said. “I feel like if I have to be moved into another courtroom, I think all of the work I’ve handled in the office has prepared me.”
“Thankfully, we have a very good bench, and they are a great resource for me to go to if I have any questions,” she added.
While she said she does not know how the judges voted, Mejias said she has had a chance to meet with the current St. Clair County judges and left feeling that she had bipartisan support.
“It means a lot of have their support,” she said.
Mejias said she has built a strong relationship with the family bar in St. Clair County from her years of experience in the practice and hopes to make them proud.
“I hope to do my very best,” she said. “I hope to not just make the judges proud, but also the other attorneys.”
“I hope to help the litigants. As a judge, we are held to a higher standard. I hope to set a good example when I walk into the courtroom every day,” she added.
Mejias has been an attorney for 10 years. She received her bachelor of arts degree in speech communications from the University of Illinois in Champaign Urbana in 2004 and her juris doctorate from the New England School of Law in Boston in 2007.
She is admitted to practice law in Illinois and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois.
Mejias is a member of the American Bar Association, the Illinois Bar Association, the St. Clair County Bar Association and the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals.
She said she will be assigned to one of the family courts.
St. Clair County Chief Judge Andrew Gleeson announced the appointment of Mejias in brief press release on March 22.
While Gleeson posted notice and sought applications before Kelley officially retired March 1, Gleeson has not sought to initiate the process for filling the vacancy of circuit judge Robert LeChien, who died in August.
The process to fill LeChien’s vacancy would begin with Gleeson making a request to the Administrative Office of Illinois Courts. The Illinois Supreme Court would then make an appointment based upon the recommendation of the justice elected from the circuit. In this case, that would be Justice Lloyd Karmeier, a Republican.
Gleeson has previously maintained that he has no power or authority to make judicial appointments, and has no involvement in initiating the process.