Kane County judge receives Community Service Award

Sixteenth Judicial Circuit Judge René Cruz was recently presented with the Kane County Bar Association Community Service Award. Cruz is the fourth judge from Kane County to receive the award, joining Chief Judge Clint Hull (2011), and retired judges Judith Brawka (2005) and Richard L. Larson (1999).

The Community Service Award is bestowed annually upon a "well-rounded individual who, through actions, has shown a true understanding of and a caring attitude toward the community in which they reside."

"I'm humbled after receiving the Community Service Award from the Kane County Bar Association, especially since it comes from my peers: Judges, attorneys and other members of our surrounding legal community," Cruz said. "No matter our station in life there are always opportunities to share our blessings with others."

Actively supporting the community in which he lives and works, Cruz was the president of the Aurora Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and was awarded the Champions Against Hunger along with his wife, Silvia, by the Aurora Area Interfaith Food Pantry. Cruz was also recognized as Alumnus of the Year by the Northern Illinois University College of Law Alumni Council, for his "devotion to the public good." Additionally, he has been named a "Trendsetter in Action" by Boys II Men Inc. for "being a consistent voice for the community and showing the youth that excellence can be achieved."

Cruz also donates his time to read to children at local area schools, volunteers to assist with back-to-school fairs through Communities in Schools, speaks to middle school classes about the dangers of the internet, helps clean up along the banks of the Fox River, annually volunteers for the Aurora GreenFest, and has installed streetlights for area neighborhoods as part of Community Rebuild Day.

A graduate of Balboa High School in the Panama Canal Zone, Cruz received his bachelor's degree from The Citadel Military College of South Carolina. He went on to earn his law degree in 1995 from NIU School of Law. In December 2012, Cruz was selected to be an associate judge for the Sixteenth Judicial Circuit, the first Hispanic judge to be seated in the circuit. From 2016 through 2018, he was appointed by the Illinois Supreme Court to fill a vacant circuit judge position. He then ran for, and was elected to, the circuit judge position later in 2018.