Batavia man new chief judge for 16th Circuit

Robert B. Spence, a former prosecutor and judge since 2001, has been named by his colleagues as the next Chief Judge of the 16th Judicial Circuit.

Spence’s term begins Dec. 1, runs for two years and he will replace Chief Judge F. Keith Brown.

From 1980 to 2001, Spence, a Batavia father of two, served as assistant state’s attorney in Kane and DuPage counties and then as the deputy attorney general for former Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan before being appointed as a judge.

Elected as a circuit judge in 2004, he has served in the Family Division and Criminal Division and currently serves in the Law Division.

Spence graduated from Taylor University in 1977 and from John Marshall Law School in 1980.

He was chosen by judges of the 16th Circuit, which includes Kane, Kendall and DeKalb counties.