Associate Judge Powers running for circuit spot
JOLIET -- Will County Associate Judge Mike Powers is running for circuit judge.
He is seeking the spot on the bench that will become open when Will County Judge Stephen White retires late next year.
As part of Powers' campaign, the committee working on his election is holding a fundraiser for him at 4:30 p.m. Thursday in the foyer of the Two Rialto Square building, said Frank Cservenyak, a Joliet lawyer who is working as Powers' campaign manager.
"He is a hard-working honest man, and he does what is fair and right," Cservenyak said, adding that he's known Powers for 20 years.
The tickets are $100 per person or $150 for a couple, and the cost includes open bar, hors d'oeuvres and entrees, Cservenyak said.
In Will County, the circuit and subcircuit judges are elected. The associates are chosen by the circuits.
"I am running because a lot of my fellow judges and lawyers have encouraged me to do so," Powers said Friday. "I think I am doing a good job as an associate judge, and I think it's a logical progression." Other sitting circuits such as White, Will County Judge Carla Alessio Policandriotes and Will County Judge Dan Rozak first were associates, he said.
Powers was raised in Chicago, and his father was one of the city's police officers. He attended the University of Illinois and John Marshall Law School. He has been a Will County State's Attorney and also worked in private practice at the Henshaw and Culbertson office in Joliet.
While raising his family, Powers has coached baseball, soccer and basketball at the Plainfield Township and Wheatland Township Park Districts. He also has taught religious education and is a former president of the men's club at St. Mary's Immaculate Church in Plainfield. His wife, Barbara, teaches language arts at the Cathedral of St. Raymond's school in Joliet.
Comment on this story.
heraldnewsonline.com
