Seven-person committee to screen six candidates for at-large circuit judge post in Eighth Judicial Circuit

QUINCY — Illinois Supreme Court Justice Lisa Holder White announced late Tuesday afternoon the formation of a judicial screening committee for the Eighth Judicial Circuit.

The screening committee was formed to assess the qualifications of six people who applied for appointment to the office of at-large circuit judge for the Eighth Judicial Circuit. The vacancy resulted from the election of Amy Lannerd to the Appellate Court of Illinois, Fourth Judicial District, effective Dec. 2. 

Under the Illinois Constitution, Lannerd’s vacancy will be filled by Supreme Court appointment.

Applicants being considered for appointment to the judgeship are:

• Timothy A. Bass of Springfield, an assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of Illinois. He prosecuted the cases against three former Illinois Department of Corrections officers — Alex Banta, Todd Sheffler and Willie Hedden — who were convicted of federal civil rights violations and obstruction charges in the beating death of inmate Larry Earvin, 65, at Western Illinois Correctional Center in May 2018.
• Gabriel T. Grosboll of Petersburg, the state’s attorney in Menard County since 2017. He previously worked as a general counsel for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, an administrative law judge and a deputy general counsel with the Illinois Department of Public Health, an assistant attorney general with the Office of the Illinois Attorney General and as an assistant state’s attorney with the Sangamon County State’s Attorney’s Office.
• Jonathan S. Hoover of Quincy, who became the chief public defender in Adams County on July 15. He previously had been a public defender in Missouri for 13 years in the 10th Judicial Circuit, which covers Monroe, Marion and Ralls counties; an associate at the Quincy law firm of Schmiedeskamp, Robertson, Neu and Mitchell, LLP; and a partner at the Hannibal Law Firm of Lemon, Matchett and Hoover, LLC. Hoover also has served many years as an adjunct professor at Quincy University.
• Jennifer A. Winking of Quincy, deputy general counsel with the Illinois Executive Ethics Commission since November 2023. She served nine months as the director of human resources and risk management for the City of Quincy, and she was an assistant professor of legal studies at Culver-Stockton College for two years. She previously was a partner with the Quincy law firm of Scholz, Loos, Palmer, Siebers, & Duesterhaus LLP for 25 years, focusing her practice on employment and workers’ compensation defense. 
• Laura Keck, lead trial attorney for the Adams County State’s Attorney Office since August. She has worked for the Adams County State’s Attorney Office since 2012. She was a law clerk for the Missouri Supreme Court for nearly two years and for the Missouri Attorney General’s Office for 18 months before coming to Adams County.
• Kevin Tippey, an associate judge in the Eighth Judicial Circuit since 2017. He was sworn in as Menard County state’s attorney in January 2014 and re-elected to a four-year term in 2016. Tippey was in private practice in Petersburg and a partner in the law firm of Grosboll, Becker, Tice & Tippey before becoming state’s attorney.

The screening committee consists of non-lawyers and lawyers who reside in the Eighth Judicial Circuit. The non-lawyer members of the committee are Kerry Anders, Clairice Hetzler, Jill Reis and Chris Solaro. The lawyer members of the committee are Justice M. Carol Pope (ret.), Judge Bob Hardwick Jr. (ret.), and Attorney Natalie Oswald. Hardwick will serve as chairperson of the committee.

After the committee receives public input, gathers information and interviews each applicant, it will report its findings to the Supreme Court of Illinois. The person appointed will serve as an at-large circuit judge until the first Monday in December following the November 2026 general election.

Members of the public are invited to submit written comments concerning the applicants by U.S. mail to Eighth Judicial Screening Committee, Adams County Courthouse, 521 Vermont, Quincy, Ill., 62301 or by email to smain@adamscountyil.gov. Comments must be in writing and received no later than 5 p.m. on December 18, 2024. Anonymous letters will not be accepted. All comments will be held in the strictest confidence by the committee and the court.

The Eighth Judicial Circuit encompasses Adams, Brown, Calhoun, Cass, Mason, Menard, Pike and Schuyler counties.