State’s attorney’s office recognizes employee, prosecutor of the year

The Kane County State’s Attorney’s office recently named its Prosecutor and Employee of the Year.

Assistant State’s Attorney Kelly M. Orland was named Prosecutor of the Year for 2010.

Employee of the Year went to Pam Bradley, administrator of the office’s Community Prosecution Unit and director of the Weed and Seed Program, a crime prevention and early intervention program in Aurora for at-risk kids.

“It has been a pleasure and a privilege to get to know Kelly. It is an honor to have such a hard worker on our staff. Kelly is as dedicated as they get, and she is very deserving of this award,” Kane County State’s Attorney Joe McMahon said.

“Pam truly is an unsung hero in this office. The results of her work are fewer criminal cases and fewer young people in the criminal justice system as defendants. Her work is vitally important not just to this office, but also to the city of Aurora and to all of Kane County,” McMahon added.

Orland has been an assistant state’s attorney in Kane since 2001 and joined the office as a victim’s advocate in 1996.

Orland is the first chair of felony courtroom 311, and also leads the office’s Narcotics Unit. In 2010, Kelly was honored by the Illinois Metropolitan Enforcement Group Directors and Task Commanders Association for Narcotics & Dangerous Drugs Enforcement for her work on narcotics investigations that led to the indictments of 10 people, a seizure of more than a ton of marijuana and nearly $500,000 in cash.

Orland is a lifelong resident of Kane County and graduate of St. Charles High School.

Bradley, who joined the state’s attorney’s office in 1999, also is a peer mentor selected by the U.S. Department of Justice, and is program coordinator for the Law Enforcement Youth Academy, Pre-Trial Diversion and the Community Pride High School Forum.

In 2009, Pam was honored with the Mayor’s Hometown Hero Award by Aurora’s African-American Heritage Advisory Board for her years of dedication and service to Aurora. A native of Chicago, Bradley has lived in Aurora for nearly 30 years.

Remembering Judge Dixon

The legal community in Kane County and beyond was affected by last week’s passing of retired Judge Patrick J. Dixon, a Geneva resident who lost a battle with a rare form of appendix cancer.

“He was a friend and mentor to many in the Kane County courts,” Kane County State’s Attorney Joe McMahon said. “He was a servant of the people who dedicated many years to the citizens of Kane County, the judiciary and to the bar. And he was a man who always tried to personify fairness. My condolences go out to his family and many friends. He will be missed.”

hhitzeman@dailyherald.com