Judicial Center

October 1, 2009

The large building to the left is the new $15 million Judicial Center, across 5th Street from the Ogle County Courthouse built in 1891.[Not able as yet to post the photo -- aerial view of Judicial Center and old Courthouse] The new building was dedicated and opened for business in August of 2005 and is expected to take care of court business in this county for at least 100 more years. Bill Fearer III told me it was considered state of the art in the State of Illinois. The 1891 Courthouse took care of business for 114 years and will continue to house several county offices.

When I first started to practice law here in 1983, the Courthouse was being renovated and we had court in the old Nash School a block away. I didn’t go inside the new Judicial Center, because when it’s over it’s over. Being away 13 years means it’s over. The fat lady has already sung her last note.

There are now four judges on the bench in this new center -- Steve Pemberton, Mike Mallon, Bob Hanson and Kathleen Kaufman. We knew Steve Pemberton when he was at Fearer & Nye. Mike Mallon was in Rochelle with Jack Roe, now retired, and Jack’s son, Ben, is now State’s Attorney. Bob Hansen and I used to play raquetball every week during the 15 years I practiced law here and Bob also was an assistant public defender. Kathleen Kaufman was an Assistant State’s Attorney and we worked many cases together. Both Bob and Kathleen were a pleasure to work with.

I went over to the Ogle County Newspapers on 4th Street to see if they had an old copy of the Judicial Center dedication and they were so nice. They remembered me and copied old articles, including the special supplement that was prepared back then. I was happy to see Vinde Wells and Earline Hinton and it was fun to visit with them both. They both sought statements back then when I was representing this or that client. Thank God they didn’t ask for an interview now as the answer would have been a polite NO THANKS.