46 apply for judgeships in Madison County

There is no shortage of candidates for associate judge in Madison County.

The list of applicants to replace five judges who lost their seats last month in Madison County numbers 46, including at least two former political candidates. The prospective judges filed their applications with the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts, and the names were released Tuesday by the office of Madison County Chief Judge David Hylla.

Associate Judges Duane Bailey, Ben Beyers, H. Donald Flack, David Grounds and Elizabeth Levy all failed to receive sufficient votes among the circuit judges to retain their seats in June — out of 13 associate judges in the county. All five are among the applicants, asking to be reinstated.

Bailey and Beyers were the only two black judges on the bench in the 3rd Judicial Circuit, which includes Madison and Bond counties. The five in Madison County and one judge in St. Clair County comprised six of only eight judges statewide who were not retained this year, out of 376 judges retained.

Among the other candidates are Amy Sholar, an Alton attorney who ran for Madison County state’s attorney in 2014; Marleen Suarez, who ran for county treasurer in 2014 and challenged state Rep. Dwight Kay in 2012; former prosecutors John Daugherty and Amy Maher; administrative law judge Clifton Flex; and both Peter and Thomas Maag, sons of former appellate judge and Illinois Supreme Court candidate Gordon Maag.

Others include Jennifer Hightower, a daughter of former Edwardsville schools superintendent Ed Hightower, and Allyson Romani, a daughter of retired circuit judge Charles Romani Jr.

Circuit judges are elected every six years, and vote on appointment and retention of the associate judges every four years. According to Rule 39 of Illinois Supreme Court rules, associate judges must be licensed attorneys, U.S. citizens and residents of the area included in the judicial circuit. A ballot including a brief biography of each candidate will be sent to the circuit judges, each of whom will choose five candidates. A simple majority determines who receives the judgeship, but with so many applicants, it may be possible that none of the candidates receive a majority vote. According to the rules, then, a runoff ballot will be created with twice the number of empty seats — in this case, the top ten names.

In the 20th Judicial Circuit, which covers St. Clair County, Associate Judge Laninya Cason was the only associate judge voted off the bench. Applicants have until Friday to put in applications for Cason’s seat.

The full list of applicants in the 3rd Judicial Circuit are:

* John R. Abell

* Roy D. Anderson

* Duane L. Bailey

* Christopher J. T. Bauer

* Erin L. Beavers

* Timothy D. Berkley

* Ben T. Beyers II

* Michael J. Brunton

* Ellen R. Burford

* Rodney D. Caffey

* Jeffery A. Cain

* John R. Daugherty

* Christopher M. Donohoo

* James M. Drazen

* David W. Dugan

* David J. Ezra

* Derek L. Filcoff

* Donald M. Flack

* Clifton L. Flex

* Janel L. Freeman

* David K. Grounds

* Jennifer L. Hightower

* Eric D. Jackstadt

* Anthony R. Jumper

* Elizabeth R. Levy

* Peter J. Maag

* Thomas G. Maag

* Amy Maher

* Edward T. McCarthy

* Andrew J. Miofsky

* Heather L. Mueller-Jones

* Marc W. Parker

* Allyson M. Romani

* Maureen D. Schuette

* Amy E. Sholar

* Darren K. Short

* Luther W. Simmons

* Katherine M. Smith

* Sarah D. Smith

* Judy Kay Steele

* Marleen M. Suarez

* Kelly C. Sullivan

* Kerry T. Taplin

* Suzanne M. Vogel

* Mary Beth Williams

* Leslie A. Wood

This story was originally published July 14, 2015 at 3:17 PM with the headline "46 apply for judgeships in Madison County."