15th Circuit Judge Val Gunnarsson appointed Mike Rock Monday as the interim State's Attorney in Ogle County. He replaces Ben Roe who was sworn in as a Circuit Judge yesterday morning in Oregon.
Rock was Roe's 1st Assistant in his office for the past 2 years. This is his 2nd time with Ogle County in the SA's office. He spent 6 years prior to that before going into private practise. Rock has worked in private practise for 10 1/2 years.
A permanent State's Attorney for Ogle County will be discussed during the next county board meeting on January 15th in Oregon.
On December 18th, the Ogle County board voted 13-11 in rejecting a recommendation from Ogle County Board Chairman Kim Gouker of Byron in appointing Polo attorney Thomas Suits to the position.
Suits was 1 of 4 candidates interviewed for State's Attorney by a 5-member committee. The other candidates were Rock, former judge Robbin Minnis, and Ogle County public defender Eric Morrow.
Gouker plans to recommend 1 of the 4 attorneys during the meeting on January 15th.
The person appointed as the new State's Attorney in Ogle County will hold the position for 2 years since Roe was re-elected last November to a 4-year term. There will be a special election for the final 2 years of the term in November of 2014.
