Peers honor Judge McKoski

Lake County Circuit Judge Raymond McKoski was recently honored by his colleagues on the bench for his work in the field of judicial ethics.

McKoski received the Presidential Service Award at the annual meeting of the Illinois Judges Association in Chicago.

For the past 17 years, McKoski has served as the vice chairman of the Illinois Judicial Ethics Committee, created by the state judges' and bar associations to advise jurists on complying with conduct rules set by the state Supreme Court.

A noted lecturer on judicial ethics throughout the state, McKoski also serves on the ethics faculty at annual seminars conducted for new judges.

Judge applicantsThirteen Lake County attorneys have applied for appointment as associate judge to fill the vacancy created by the recent retirement of Judge Patrick Lawler.Chief Judge James Booras said the candidates will be interviewed by the Lake County Bar Association's committee on judicial appointments and rated on their fitness for office, then interviewed by the county's circuit judges.Once the review process is complete, the circuit judges will select two finalists for the position and the appointee will be elected by vote of the circuit judges.Booras said he expects the process to be completed within two months.New equipmentThe Lake County Children's Advocacy Center will be getting new audio and video taping equipment for recording interviews with child abuse victims.State's Attorney Michael Waller said this week the equipment currently in use in the center's four interview rooms is antiquated and subject to intermittent system failures.Waller told the county board's Law and Judicial Committee he will be spending $9,000 from his asset forfeiture fund to buy four new digital video recorders and necessary support ware to bring the system up-to-date.The asset forfeiture fund consists of money and property seized from convicted drug dealers and other defendants.