Local residents will be voting on a new judge to fill a vacancy in the local judicial circuit next year, although the position will not be primarily a Vermilion County role.
The vacancy comes as Circuit Judge James Glenn announced this week that he is stepping down next year after 24 years on the bench, first being elected in 1998 and having been retained by voters every six years since that time. Glenn has mostly presided over cases in his native Coles County, but has also been assigned to Edgar County and has heard cases at every county in the Fifth Judicial Circuit. He has also served as the chief judge of the circuit.
Glenn’s seat on the bench is a circuit-wide position, meaning that voters in all of the counties that make up the Fifth Circuit, including Vermilion County, will be voting on his successor.
Four judges currently serve as at-large judges, with the others being Charlie Hall, Mitchell Schick and Matthew Sullivan. The other judges are either elected resident judges or associate justices.
