BLOOMINGTON — Circuit Judge Paul Lawrence, a lifelong Bloomington resident who has immersed himself in the McLean County judicial system for over 35 years, will retire Dec. 31, he announced Monday.
Lawrence, 61, has served as an 11th Judicial Circuit Court judge primarily hearing civil cases since he was appointed in 2011 and won re-election in 2012. He was appointed as an 11th Circuit Court associate judge in 2002.
McLean County Associate Judge Amy McFarland announced Monday she will run for the position in next year's election.
Lawrence said his wife, Helen Ogar, of Bloomington Law Office of Ogar & Miller, plans to retire the same day. She has practiced law for more than 35 years.
“We just wanted to move onto something else, move onto retirement,” Lawrence said in a recent interview with The Pantagraph.
“I think Jan. 1 we’re going to hop in the car and we’re going to travel for a couple months, but other than that we don’t really have any plans,” he added.
Eleventh Judicial Circuit Judge Paul Lawrence, left, visits with Bloomington High School English and Social Studies teacher Tim Coughlan at the close of a mock murder trial, as part of the McLean County Bar Association Lawyers in the Classroom Program which featured mock trials in Courtroom 5A of the McLean County Law & Justice Center, Bloomington, Friday, May 3, 2013.
Raised in Bloomington, Lawrence earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and his law degree at the University of Missouri, where he met his wife. He returned to Bloomington after law school and he became a lawyer with his father, William Lawrence, for 17 years.
Said Chief Judge Mark A. Fellheimer: “Judge Lawrence is a home-grown judge, having been born and raised in Bloomington, including graduating from Bloomington High School. He and his family are pillars of the local legal, civic and religious communities and graciously give of their time to others and we thank them. His calm and gentle demeanor will be missed as much as his broad legal knowledge and experience.”
Lawrence credits his part-time work with the McLean County Public Defender’s office for much of his early experience. That also was when he became intrigued to become a judge.
“That’s where I really learned how to do trial work. I tried about 90 jury trials during that time,” Lawrence said of the public defender’s office. “That’s when I figured I think I’d like to be a trial judge. I had a couple judges at the time tell me that I should apply for the position and so I did and I ended up getting it.”
Voters will choose a new judge for the vacancy in the 2022 election cycle.
Photos: Courts learn to socially distance in the time of COVID-19
DOMINANT
McLean County Court Administrator Will Scanlon positions a microphone in courtroom 503 at the Law and Justice Center in Bloomington on Wednesday. He said sound system components have become very important for the socially distanced jury members to properly hear.
121120-blm-loc-6covidcourts
Portable speakers are a feature of courtroom 503 at the Law and Justice Center in Bloomington, Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020. Learning the importance of sound to present cases has been an important fact as COVID-19 demanded changes in how the courts function.
121120-blm-loc-1covidcourts
McLean County Court Administrator Will Scanlon said the green tape defines the quarantine area that separates the socially distanced jury from attorneys as they plead their case Dec. 9 in Courtroom 503 at the McLean County Law and Justice Center in Bloomington.
121120-blm-loc-4covidcourts
McLean County Court Administrator Will Scanlon stands before the judge's bench that is quarantined from attorneys by tables for evidence as legal teams plead their case in courtroom 503 at the Law and Justice Center in Bloomington, Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020.
121120-blm-loc-2covidcourts
Jurors are socially distanced as they hear trials in courtroom 503 at the Law and Justice Center in Bloomington, Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020.
121120-blm-loc-5covidcourts
A makeshift witness box separates the socially distanced jury from attorneys as testimony is presented in courtroom 503 at the Law and Justice Center in Bloomington, Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020.
121120-blm-loc-7covidcourts
McLean County Court Administrator Will Scanlon said even the public's seating is socially distanced in courtroom 503 at the Law and Justice Center in Bloomington, Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020. The courtroom was the former jury room before COVID-19 demanded changes in how the courts function.
121120-blm-loc-8covidcourts
McLean County Assistant State's Attorney Jeff Horve presents a shotgun taken into evidence during the murder trial of Christopher Harrison on Tuesday, June 9, 2020, in courtroom 503 at the McLean County Law and Justice Center in Bloomington. The Harrison trial was one of the first heard in the larger courtroom, formally a jury room.
Contact Kade Heather at 309-820-3256. Follow him on Twitter: @kadeheather
Kade Heather
Courts Reporter
