BLOOMINGTON — A McLean County associate judge active in the development of several innovative court initiatives announced Wednesday that she will seek the Republican nomination for circuit judge.
Rebecca Foley hopes to succeed Judge James Souk, who will retire at the end of his term in December 2012.
In making her announcement to a crowd in the lobby of the McLean County Law and Justice Center, Foley cited her role in the development of the county’s recovery court for mentally ill defendants and the small claims mediation program.
Foley said her interest in programs for mentally ill offenders began soon after she was appointed to the bench in 2004 when she was assigned to hear such cases. The courts, she said, seemed ill-equipped to deal with people whose main issue was their mental illness.
Since May 2010, Foley has served as presiding judge over the recovery court and its current roster of 20 participants.
Foley said her candidacy will focus on several aspects of her career, including “my proven ability to manage a courtroom while exhibiting the temperament and patience necessary to ensure that all parties are treated with courtesy and respect.”
The candidate received a degree in 1991 from the University of Illinois in News-Editorial Journalism and a law degree in 1995 from DePaul University College of Law.
Foley and her husband, Joe, reside in Bloomington with their three children.
