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Illinois Supreme Court issued the following announcement on Feb. 17.
Justice David K. Overstreet and the Illinois Supreme Court have announced the appointment of Steven M.J. Bost as an At-Large Circuit Judge in the First Judicial Circuit.
Mr. Bost is being appointed to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Brad K. Bleyer effective August 3, 2020. The appointment takes effect on March 1, 2021, and will conclude on December 5, 2022, when the vacancy will be filled by the winner of the November 2022 general election.
“Steven Bost is an impressive public servant who has served his country honorably in the United States Marine Corps as a Judge Advocate both as an active duty Marine and now as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Marine Corps Reserves,” Justice Overstreet said. “Besides representing clients for several years in private practice in southern Illinois, he has more recently served as the Chief Public Defender in Jackson County and has earned an outstanding reputation that transcends party lines. He will make an excellent judge.” Justice Overstreet recommended the appointment to the full Court following a review of applicants by an eight-person screening committee, which included the Honorable Mark Clarke (ret.); Honorable Terry Foster (ret.); Honorable Carolyn Smoot (ret.); former U.S. Attorney Courtney Cox of Sandberg Phoenix & von Gontard; Southern Illinois University School of Law professor Christopher Behan; attorney Michael Burke of the Southern Illinois Law Center; managing attorney Diane Goffinet for the Southern Regional Office of the Land of Lincoln Legal Aid; and attorney Kelly Phelps of Jelliffe, Doerge & Phelps.