Fifth District Appellate Court Justice Mark Boie and Madison County Ciruit Court Judge Sarah Smith were rated "highly recommended" in the recently released Illinois State Bar Association judicial evaluation.
Boie, a Republican from Anna, and Smith, a Democrat from Edwardsville, seek election to a 10-year term at the Fifth District for the seat of Justice Melissa Chapman, who retired in October.
Attorney Katherine Ruocco of Swansea, a Republican, also is in the race and will face Boie in the GOP primary on March 17. The ISBA judicial evaluation committee rated Ruocco "not recommended."
Ruocco responded to the recent poll, stating: "The ISBA is a voluntary association of about 25% of all Illinois attorneys, and has no relation to the licensing or regulatory body for Illinois attorneys. I received a 'Not Recommended' rating from the ISBA evaluation simply because I chose not to participate in their evaluation process. Such rating was not made on the basis of any substantive grounds."
Smith is running unopposed in the primary.
The ISBA states that it reviews appellate and supreme court candidates in a comprehensive evaluation process, including a detailed background investigation by members of the ISBA Judicial Evaluations Committee, followed by an in-person interview of the candidate. The committee then decides whether to rate the candidate recommended, highly recommended or not recommended.
Another ISBA evaulation is its Judicial Advisory Poll, where members of the ISBA in the circuit or district from which a candidate seeks election rate the candidates. Non-member attorneys can also request an evaulation ballot. The advisory poll for Boie, Smith and Ruocco produced similar results as the judicial evaluation committees.
In the advisory poll, candidates are rated recommend or not recommended based on whether the attorney making the evaulation agrees that the candidate meets acceptable requirements for the office. Candidates must receive at least 65 percent "yes" responses to be recommended. The percentage is based on "yes" responses to each question; "no opinion" responses are not included, according to the ISBA.
Boie and Smith were recommended in the advisory poll. Ruocco was not recommended.
Here is how the candidates were rated.
| Number of Responses | Recommended/Not Recommended | Meets Requirements of Office | Integrity | Impartiality | Legal Ability | Temperament | Court Management | Health | Sensitivity |
| 218 | R | 81.99 | 95.41 | 84.29 | 84.95 | 81.99 | 98.95 | 95.52 | 87.31 |
| 247 | R | 91.29 | 93.39 | 90.42 | 90.50 | 94.63 | 92.02 | 96.60 | 95.65 |
| 107 | NR | 13.13 | 33.33 | 20.20 | 12.24 | 25.74 | 29.62 | 61.33 | 40.74 |