Kane County’s top prosecutor Mosser seeks judicial seat

Kane County State’s Attorney Jamie Mosser is among 10 lawyers and a judge who applied to replace Judge Kevin Busch when he retires Jan. 29.

Mosser, a Democrat from St. Charles, is serving her second term as the county’s top prosecutor.

“It would be a privilege to serve the people of Kane County as a judge just as it has been to be their State’s Attorney,” Mosser wrote in an email.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to be considered amongst highly qualified and experienced individuals. I am confident that whoever is selected will be the right choice for the position,” Mosser wrote. “In whatever role I am serving, my focus will always be on keeping our communities safe and making Kane County the best place in Illinois to raise a family.”

Illinois Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth Rochford is seeking written public comment on the applicants by 4 p.m. Jan. 9. Comments cannot be anonymous and should be sent to Stacie Ryan at sryan@illinoiscourts.gov.

Kane County Associate Judge Julia Yetter is among the other applicants. She was appointed to the bench in 2018 and began serving in 2019.

The person selected to fill Busch’s vacancy will serve until after the November 2028 general election, completing what would have been his second elected term.

Busch was appointed as an associate judge in 2008, elected as a circuit judge in 2010 and retained in the general elections in 2016 and 2022, records show.

The other applicants include: Junaid Mustafa Afeef, administrative law judge, Illinois Department of Public Health; Nicholas Catizone, supervising assistant for the DuPage County State’s Attorney; Alan Garrow, of Nealis & Garrow; Randy K. Johnson, sole practitioner; Timothy Martin, senior regional counsel, Illinois Department of Children and Family Services; Julie M. Pirtle, partner, Peskind Law Firm; Christopher Solfa, partner, Cunningham, Meyer & Vedrine; Frederick John Steffen Jr., Steffen & Kelly; Andrea Zenker, partner, Higgins, Zenker & Coyle.