EDWARDSVILLE - Judicial candidate Barry Julian campaigns as a man of soil and toil but a statement he filed when he served as a Madison County judge paints a portrait of luxury.
As of April 2020, he owned a home in the well-to-do Fox Creek neighborhood, a vacation home in Florida, and two rental properties in Los Angeles.
Julian listed these and other assets on a statement of economic interest that all judges must file at the Illinois Supreme Court.
Judges don’t disclose asset values.
Julian obtained a $1.9 million permit to build a Fox Creek home on 11 acres in 2016. He built it 50 yards wide and 40 yards deep, with 7,084 square feet on a single story plus a garage with 1,838 square feet.
Los Angeles County values Julian’s rental properties at $2.1 million and $706,554. The county assesses the land at about $135 and $90 per square foot; it assesses improvements at about $250 and $200 per square foot.
Julian didn’t give an address for the Florida property. But eight years ago, when he retired from practicing asbestos law to the Sunshine State, he registered to vote as a Democrat in Naples.
He reported half ownership of three corporations that own and operate residential and commercial rental properties in Madison County.
His former partner, the late Randy Gori, owned the other half.
One of their corporations, Julian Gori Holdings, owns the Gori law firm building at 156 North Main Street across from the courthouse in Edwardsville.
Julian reported ownership of a commercial property at 6218 Miller Drive in Edwardsville. He also reported ownership of a rental house on Highway 159 in Edwardsville.
County records show he and wife Gayvonna Julian bought 5182 State Route 159 in Edwardsville for $251,000 in 2016.
He reported ownership of a rental house on Hebner Drive in Alton. County records show a trust of Gayvonna bought it for $144,150 in 2015.
He reported ownership of a farm in Madison County. Records show Gayvonna owns 82 acres on Drexelius Road in Bethalto.
He stated that within the previous year he owned a farm on Dressler Road in Dow and houses on Briarcliff Lane in Alton and Meadow Lane in Edwardsville.
His real estate activity continued after he filed the statement of economic interest.
County records show that last year he sold the Miller Drive property for $450,000 and a trust in his name bought 5304 River Aire Drive in Godfrey for $245,000.
He reported that Krilogy Financial Management, a St. Louis County business, managed his mutual funds and municipal bonds.
He reported an Alllianz annuity and three education trusts.
He reported checking and savings accounts at US Bank and PNC Bank, a checking account and a certificate of deposit at Liberty Bank, and a checking account at Town & Country Bank.
He reported no debts except mortgages with CNB Bank and SPS Mortgage, both in excess of $250,000.
Julian helped found the asbestos firm Gori Julian in 2008, which went on to become the nation's leading asbestos filer in the nation's busiest asbestos court - Madison County.
Julian retired from the firm in 2015 and moved to Florida. He then un-retired and returned to Madison County in 2019 to serve as associate judge from February 2019 until December 2020. He resigned two and a half years before his term would have ended.