Lake County Bar Association expands its leadership

The Lake County Bar Association has formed a new board of directors to guide the 800-plus-member organization.

Five new officers were elected Tuesday to join the seven sitting members of the former executive committee on the new board.

Judges Fred Foreman and Valerie Boettle-Ceckowski and attorneys Steven McCollum, Thomas Gurewitz and Margaret Georgevich are the newly elected members.

They join Judges Daniel Shanes and Robert Smith and attorneys Fredrick Bryan Lesser, Bryan Winter, Scott Gibson, Perry Smith and Marjorie Sher on the board.

The association also used its Tuesday meeting to present a check for $1,000 to Prairie State Legal Services.

The gift, made on behalf of the association's foundation, will go to further Prairie State's providing of civil court lawyers and other legal assistance to the poor.

Administrators certified: Two members of the 19th Judicial Circuit's administration have been accepted as certified court executives by the National Center for State Courts in Williamsburg, Va.

Richard Krause and Patrice Evens completed the four-phase educational program under the guidance of the center's Institute of Court Management.

The pair took courses, prepared a research paper and presented a project to earn the honor bestowed on only 1,080 court administrators since 1970.

Krause is the director of judicial operations for Lake County courts and Evans serves as the business process analyst.

Court grant: County officials have agreed to apply for a grant that could provide up to $200,000 in funding for the Mental Health Court program in Lake County.

Mental Health Court provides special oversight and treatment programs for defendants whose psychological problems provide the foundation for their criminal activities.

Court officials said the grant will be sought from the U.S. Department of Justice through its Bureau of Justice Assistance.

If the county is successful in landing the grant, the money will be used to finance the hiring of a part-time assistant state's attorney and a part-time assistant public defender to be assigned to the program.