Elgin City Councilman John Steffen and Kane County State’s Attorney Jamie Mosser are among the 11 candidates who have applied to complete the term of 16th Circuit Court Judge Kevin Busch when he retires next month.
Steffen is a senior council member and an attorney with Steffen & Kelly, a law firm located in downtown Elgin. Born and raised in Elgin, he is a 1982 graduate of Larkin High School and the University of Illinois. He received his law degree from the John Marshall Law School and has been an attorney since 1989.
Among the local organizations he belongs to are the Elgin Noon Kiwanis Club, the Downtown Neighborhood Association of Elgin, and the Kane and Illinois State bar associations.
Steffen could not be reached for comment.
Mosser was elected state’s attorney in 2020 and reelected last year.
“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 said in her application.
“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. 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.”
She didn’t have further comment.
Mosser joined the state’s attorney’s office in 2006, where she prosecuted felony, domestic violence and drunken driving cases and worked in the Drug Rehabilitative Court and the Special Prosecution Unit.
She left the office in 2015 for private practice, and five years later was elected state’s attorney.
Circuit court judicial vacancies are filled by the Illinois Supreme Court, which solicited applicants to complete Busch’s term earlier this month.
Besides Steffen and Mosser, the other candidates under consideration are:
- Junaid Mustafa Afeef, an administrative law judge for the Illinois Department of Public Health;
- Nicholas Catizone, supervising assistant for the DuPage County state’s attorney’s office;
- Alan Garrow, with the Nealis & Garrow law firm;
- Randy K. Johnson, sole practitioner;
- Timothy Martin, senior regional counsel for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services;
- Julie M. Pirtle, partner with the Peskind Law Firm;
- Christopher Solfa, partner with the Cunningham, Meyer & Vedrine law firm;
- Kane County Associate Judge Julia Ann Yetter, who named a judge in 2018;
- Andrea Zenker, partner with the Higgins, Zenker & Coyle law firm.
Busch’s term ends December 2028. The winner of an election in November 2028 will serve a six-year term.
Busch is a former Kane County assistant state’s attorney, where he was chief of the criminal division, and later went into private practice before being appointed as an associate judge in 2008. He was elected circuit judge in 2010.
Before making its selection, the Supreme Court is taking written comments about the applicants. They can be sent to Stacie Ryan at sryan@illinoiscourts.gov by 4 p.m. Friday, Jan. 9. Letters will not be made public and anonymous letters will not be accepted.
Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
