This candidate wants to replace longtime Judge Mudge in Madison County circuit court

A Wood River attorney announced plans to run to fill the vacancy that will be left by longtime Chief Judge William Mudge when he retires in December.

Tim Berkley, who grew up in Roxana, plans to run as a Republican. After finishing his undergraduate degree from Lewis and Clark Community College and Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Berkley completed his law degree at the University of Tulsa.

Since he graduated in 1990, he has worked as a prosecutor, public defender, private attorney and most recently as a senior law clerk in the Fifth District Appellate Court. He resigned from that position to run for office.

“I will decide cases fairly and impartially, free of political influence and mandates, and will passionately uphold the law,” Berkley said in a news release.

Berkley’s mother owned a small business in Roxana, and his father was a union pipefitter at the Wood River Refinery.

Only residents of the new first judicial subcircuit in Madison County will be able to vote in the November judgeship elections.

This story was originally published March 17, 2022 at 6:00 AM.