Madison County Chief Public Defender John Rekowski announced at Friday’s Judiciary Committee meeting that he plans to retire from his position next month.
He said that his last day in office will either be on Nov. 30 or the day his successor is sworn in, “whichever comes last.”
“I’ll be around, continue fulfilling my duties until the day I walk out the door,” he said. “But that day is coming relatively soon.”
“It has been one of the great honors of my life, and one of the great successes of my life to have this job and to work with the people that I’ve worked with, to appear in front of what I think are some of the best judges around, and I’m not talking just about the people that are sitting on the bench,” Rekowski added.
He said that “one of the things that comes with this gray hair” is getting to appear in front of great former judges as well as current ones.
Madison County Chief Judge William Mudge congratulated Rekowski on his next chapter and applauded his service to the county and the Third Judicial Circuit.
“The statute that gives circuit judges the authority to hire a public defender talks about the public defender serves at the pleasure of judges, and it has been a pleasure to have John Rekowski as our public defender,” he said.
“He serves with distinction,” he added. “He represents his clients vigorously and confidently. He represents those that cannot afford counsel. He represents people often under very difficult circumstances. Frequently, he has to meet with his clients while they’re in custody, more so than private lawyers.”
Mudge said he has known Rekowski since 1985 and previously worked for him as a part-time public defender.
Madison County State’s Attorney Tom Gibbons also congratulated Rekowski on his future endeavors, calling his office “one of the premier public defender's offices in the state.”
“The public defender’s office is a critical component of our court system fulfilling our constitutional obligations to the citizens. The constitution imbedded in it has these protections for all citizens. And John and his staff, under John’s leadership, have risen to that challenge,” he said.
Gibbons said the two have gone “toe-to-toe for many years in court” as they litigated opposite sides of cases. He added that Rekowski’s attorneys are “tough and they don’t give in” and joked that his office has helped them “hone their trial skills, because we like to try a lot of cases.”
“I can tell you, John and his staff are absolutely top notch, and they make us work so hard all the time,” Gibbons said. “They make our lives incredibly challenging as lawyers in our pursuit of our cases because they truly care about what they are doing and are extraordinarily skilled."
Gibbons thanked Rekowski for his 36 years as public defender and said he looks forward to an opportunity to “raise a glass to you.”
“John, I want to thank you for your incredible professionalism and hard work,” he said. “I look forward to a celebration of your career.”
Judiciary Committee Chair Mike Walters asked if Rekowski would be present for the November meeting before he leaves office. Rekowski responded that he will.
“Yeah, and then after that I’ll come in and actually be political,” he joked.
According to a notice of vacancy on the Madison County website, applications for Chief Public Defender are being accepted by the Chief Judges Office until the end of the day on Nov. 2.
“In addition to representing indigent defendants, the Madison County Public Defender appoints and supervises a staff of full and part-time attorneys and support staff,” according to the position description. “The Public Defender will be responsible for establishing office policies, preparation of departmental budgets, and performance of other related work as required. The public Defender also assigns, directs, and evaluates the work of the legal staff in providing competent legal services to the public within the rules of law and legal ethics. The Public Defender must have the ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with employees, court officials, public officials, the public, and members of the local Bar Association.”
The starting salary for the position is $161,064.16.
Among other qualifications, those intending to apply for the vacancy must have “at least five years’ experience in providing criminal legal services including felony trial work and experience in other areas of criminal law.”
Applicants must also be licensed to practice law in Illinois.
A former employee of the public defender’s office had previously been charged for working as an attorney despite not having a law license.
Kelci M. Miller was charged with false personation of an attorney, theft of more than $10,000 but less than $100,000 from a government entity, and forgery. The forgery charge alleges that she presented a falsified attorney license to Rekowski.