Gary Dobbs appointed as 13th Judicial Circuit judge

Justice Robert L. Carter and the Supreme Court of Illinois have announced the appointment of Gary A. Dobbs as a resident circuit court judge of Grundy County in the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit.

The Thirteenth Judicial Circuit includes Bureau, Grundy and La Salle counties.

Dobbs is being appointed to fill the vacancy created by the appointment of Judge Lance R. Peterson to the Third District Appellate Court. The appointment takes effect on Aug. 2 and will conclude on Dec. 2, 2024.

“I welcome Gary to the bench and look forward to him joining the judicial community,” Carter said. “He has several decades of civil and criminal litigation experience to prepare him for this new role.”

Dobbs has served in the Grundy County public defender’s office since 1993, first as assistant public defender and since 2015 as chief public defender. He also worked in private practice at his own law office from 1987 to 2015. From 2014 to 2018 he served on the Board of Commissioners of the Office of the State Appellate Defender.

“I want to thank Justice Carter and the Illinois Supreme Court for their consideration and faith in me,” Dobbs said. “I promise to uphold the legacy of excellence in the judiciary of Grundy County enhanced by Judges Peterson, Sobol and Belt and retired Judge Marsaglia.”

Dobbs earned his Bachelor of Science from Northern Illinois University and earned his Juris Doctor from the DePaul University College of Law. His affiliations include the American Bar Association, the Illinois State Bar Association, the Association of Trial Lawyers and the Grundy County Bar Association, of which he is a past president.