Former Brown County state’s attorney sworn in as resident circuit judge in Schuyler County

RUSHVILLE, Ill. — Mark L. Vincent recently was sworn to become the resident circuit judge in Schuyler County. Pittsfield judge Frank McCartney, chief judge of the Eighth Judicial Circuit, handled the investiture ceremony on Dec. 2 at the Schuyler County Courthouse.

Vincent is filling the vacancy created by the retirement of Scott J. Butler, which had been filled since Dec. 4, 2020 by the appointment of Ramon M. Escapa. However, Escapa was killed June 19 when he was hit by a truck while he was riding his bicycle. 

Escapa was running unopposed in the November 2022 election. Vincent and Dustin Clark both ran for the position on write-in ballots, and Vincent was declared the winner.

According to a press release from the Schuyler County Circuit Clerk’s office, Vincent is a graduate of Rushville High School and received undergraduate degrees from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla., and Western Illinois University in Macomb before receiving his Juris Doctorate in 1992 from Southern Illinois University School of Law in Carbondale. 

Vincent began his legal career with the law firm of McClure, Brannan, and Hardwick, with offices in Beardstown and Virginia, before being elected as the state’s attorney in Schuyler County in 1996. Vincent then maintained a private practice in Rushville and Mount Sterling from 2000 to 2008 before serving three terms as the state’s attorney in Brown County.

Vincent lives on his family farm in Camden. He and his wife Heidi are the parents of three children — Philip, Jakob and Liesel.