Appellate Justice Pope Seeks Full Term

The Illinois Republican Primary is 11 months away, but Carol Pope isn't waiting until the last minute.

The Illinois Appellate Justice from Petersburg announced this week she will run for a full term in the 4th Appellate District.

"I wanted to get an early start, get going," Pope said. "I'm a hard-working person, I'm organized; and I wanted to get out there and start meeting all the people in the whole 4th District."

The 57-year-old Pope said her experience as both a trial judge in Menard County and appellate justice in the 4th District have given her a good perspective on her work.

"In my county, I was the only sitting circuit judge," Pope explained. "So I heard everything. I did the traffic calls, I did the felonies, I did the misdemeanors, I did the divorces, I did the civil work. And then on the appellate court - what we do, we have 30 counties in the 4th appellate district, and we hear all of the appeals from the trial courts in those 30 counties."

Prior to becoming a judge, Pope served six years as Menard County State's Attorney. She was appointed to the circuit court in 1991, and elected the following year.

Pope was appointed to the Appellate Court in 2008. She's running for a seat now held by appointed Justice Robert Cook, who is not running. Cook came out of retirement last month to fill the vacancy created when Justice Sue Myerscough was appointed to U.S. District Court.

Illinois' 4th Appellate Court District covers 30 counties from Indiana to Missouri, including Champaign, Vermilion, McLean, Macon, Piatt, Ford, Sangamon and Douglas.