Monroe County names new prosecutor after two top state’s attorneys selected as judges
The top prosecutor’s job in Monroe County is set to change hands at the end of February.
Ryan Webb, a supervising attorney with the Gori Law Firm in Edwardsville, was unanimously appointed by county commissioners Friday to be next state’s attorney.
Webb, 40, of Columbia, will replace Monroe County State’s Attorney Lucas Liefer, who has been selected to be an associate judge in the newly created 24th Judicial Circuit.
Along with Liefer, Monroe County Assistant State’s Attorney Jennifer M. Becker-Roscow was selected to be an associate judge in the 24th Judicial Circuit, which covers Monroe, Randolph, Perry and Washington counties.
Webb, Liefer and Becker-Roscow are scheduled to be sworn into their new positions on Feb. 28.
To ease the transition to a new prosecutor, Webb was sworn in as an assistant state’s attorney on Friday so he could work with Liefer on upcoming cases.
Webb said he is “excited and eager to get to work.” He plans to hire someone to take Becker-Roscow’s position.
“The state’s attorney is a unique position in that it has an impact, and sometimes it is a quiet one, because ultimately it’s a position that allows you to ensure that victims of crime in this county receive the justice they deserve,” he said. “It’s one that allows you to support our wonderful local law enforcement and it’s just one that you generally keep the citizens safe.”
Webb will fill the unexpired term that Liefer was filling. It is scheduled to end on Dec. 1, 2024.
Webb earned his law degree at St. Thomas University in Miami and his undergraduate degree from the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana.
Neither Liefer nor Becker-Roscow could be reached for comment about their new jobs Friday.
They each earned their law degree from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, according to a news release from the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts.
The circuit judges in the 24th Judicial Circuit selected Liefer and Becker-Roscow to be associate judges.
2024 election
Webb said he intends to run for the office in 2024 and get the voters of Monroe County to support him.
Another Republican, former state Sen. Paul Schimpf, has announced on his Facebook page that he will run for the office as well.
Since Liefer was elected as a Republican, the Monroe County Republican Central Committee was tasked with recommending a candidate to the county commissioners. The committee recommended Webb after considering several candidates.
Webb said he is “honored and humbled by” the Republican Party’s recommendation and the approval by the county commissioners.
The committee said on its Facebook page that Webb was the “most qualified” candidate.
“We chose a qualified candidate who will not play politics with the job,” the committee said in the post.
The state’s attorney salary is $188,754, according to Monroe County Clerk Jonathan McLean. The annual salary for associate judges is $211,200, according to records from the state comptroller’s office.
To see more salaries for public employees across the metro-east, you can go to the Public Pay Database at bnd.com.
This story was originally published February 11, 2023 at 6:00 AM.
