Democrats Heather Heaslett, Benjamin Reed and Casey VanWinkle are campaigning for their party’s nomination to run for the Jackson County resident circuit judge in November. Republican Jamie Snyder is running unopposed in that party’s primary.

The position opened after Judge Christy Solverson announced her retirement on Jan. 30, 2026. Circuit court judges hear cases typically in a specific docket assigned by the chief judge, but they do rotate which docket they work on. A docket is a record of the proceedings or filing of one or more cases. Circuit court judges also appoint associate judges who hear cases designated by the circuit court judges. 

The primary for the Illinois First Judicial Circuit Court will be held on March 17. Early voting began on Feb. 5. The primary is a closed election, so voters declare which party’s ballot, Democrat or Republican, to vote on. Any voter can choose their ballot at the polls, no matter their previous party affiliation. 

Heaslett is a native of Murphysboro who has been a licensed attorney since 2005. She has experience working as an attorney and a judicial law clerk in the Appellate Court of Illinois. She wrote and founded a grant that brought Redeploy Illinois to the First Judicial Circuit. 

The grant is a $766,551 program that “provides evidence-based alternatives to youth incarceration, serving more than 80 local youth each year,” according to Heaslett on social media.

Reed was born and raised in Murphysboro and attended law school at SIU. He currently practices family law at his law firm across the street from the Jackson County Court House. Reed has been licensed since 2012, but before that, he helped his family law firm as a young boy. 

VanWinkle has practiced law across southern Illinois for 25 years. He is experienced in civil practice, which covers areas of law such as workers’ compensation and personal injury.

VanWinkle said that his “mindset, personality and his patience” are all qualities he would bring as a judge to make people feel respected and heard. 

“I am the type of person that I think you would be happy to be in front of,” VanWinkle said. 

Snyder has served as counsel to the City of Carbondale and as Assistant State’s Attorney over his 24 years as a licensed attorney. He is currently the City Attorney of Carbondale.

Snyder described himself as a “soft Republican.” He said that his career as an attorney with a “conservative background” in the “most progressive community in southern Illinois” shows he can represent the interests of citizens and put his “political views aside” to be an impartial judge who listens. 

All of the candidates live, work and participate in the Jackson County community. But they each have distinct careers and qualities. 

“I am a hard worker,” Heaslett said. “I am somebody who sees a problem and takes steps to change that problem, even if I am not in a policy position.”

She referenced writing the grant for Redeploy Illinois as a side project while she was an assistant state’s attorney as evidence of her hardworking nature, even outside of her normal duties.

“You are not going to find many assistant state’s attorneys that have done something like that,” Heaslett said.

Snyder has been practicing as a lawyer longer than anyone else in this race. He said that these years of experience distinguish him from the other candidates. He also has experience in managing court dockets as the city attorney. 

“When I took over, they had a backlog probably of anywhere between 7,000 to 8,000 cases that were just sitting there,” Snyder said. 

Snyder said managing this backlog by “systematically going through those cases to get the docket back down to a manageable level” was a unique experience that sets him apart from the Democratic candidates, one of whom he will be facing in November in the general election. 

VanWinkle also said that his experience distinguishes him from the other candidates. While he has focused on civil practice, he said that he has had an “eclectic background” where he has “done some personal injury, family law, workers’ compensation, and contract law.” With this background, VanWinkle has spent a lot of time in court. 

“I have just been in front of more clients and judges. I think those things pay off over time with the comfortability of being able to handle different scenarios,” VanWinkle said.

Reed has worked with the Land of Lincoln Legal Aid Service. The service provides low-income individuals and seniors with legal aid who might not otherwise be able to afford it. If people who cannot afford an attorney do not receive any legal aid, they could defend themselves in court, known as “pro se.” Doing this work within family law has allowed Reed to connect with people who need their voices to be heard, even if they do not have legal representation.  

“I also deal with a lot of folks who are pro se when I do adoptions and divorces. I would like to think that I am in tune to what they say,” Reed said. 

Reed is also distinguished by his bar poll results, where he received a 94.44% recommendation.

“I think there is a reason why I scored the way I did on the bar poll. I think I got the right combination of attributes,” Reed said. 

The “bar poll” is the Judicial Advisory Poll, which is organized by the Illinois State Bar Association. The ISBA is a voluntary organization of over 28,000 lawyers, law students and non-lawyers qualified by their experience or work. 

Like most polls, the bar poll relies on the honesty of its respondents. Other attorneys in the ISBA respond to the polls. Respondents are advised only to answer if they have dealt with or observed the candidate during their legal service or work, or have had professional experience with the candidate, or have been on committees, boards, or in lectures with the candidate.

The poll measures a candidate’s integrity, impartiality, temperament, legal ability, court management, sensitivity to diversity and bias and asks the respondents if they recommend the candidate.  All of these can be answered with “Agree,” “Disagree,” or “No Opinion.” 

VanWinkle was the only candidate aside from Reed to receive poll results. He got a 43.75% recommendation.

Heaslett and Snyder did not receive enough responses for their poll. The polls for candidates are only posted if they receive 30 or more responses from other attorneys. VanWinkle received 33 responses to his poll, and Reed received 55 responses. 

In Jackson County, there are 98 private attorneys, according to the ISBA. While that number is not as small as Randolph or Perry county’s, it is still a lot less than the 276 attorneys in Champaign or 431 in Peoria County. 

“We do not have a huge bar down here,” Reed said. 

The ISBA’s vice-chair of the Standing Committee on Judicial Advisory Polls, John Rekowski, told the Daily Egyptian that receiving 55 responses in a county with 98 private attorneys is typical. 

Depending on the type of law an attorney practices or the type of work they do, they may not interact with many other attorneys. 

“In my career, the vast majority of the cases I have dealt with have been pro se litigants,” Snyder said. “When it comes to attorneys that I have worked with, it is the same 15 to 20 attorneys who work here and around Jackson County that I deal with on a regular basis.” 

Heaslett also had a similar issue with her line of work.

“Having worked at the appellate court over the last six years, I am just not interacting with other attorneys much,” she said. 

On the results page of the ISBA website, it mentions that the opinions of the poll “do not reflect the opinion of the Illinois State Bar Association.” The ISBA does give its opinions on candidates in judicial evaluations, but the ISBA only does judicial evaluations for the appellate and supreme courts and not the circuit court. 

“Unfortunately, the system has allowed the bar poll to be something that can be manipulated for campaign purposes,” VanWinkle said. 

Whether or not the bar poll is favorable or unfavorable to the candidates, they all received signatures from citizens of Jackson County who believed in their ability to campaign for resident judge. 

Heaslett said she is campaigning with a focus on systems improvement that she would bring as a voice at the table as judge. 

Heaslett makes sure to review any policy recommendations she receives in her mailing list from the Supreme Court’s Commission on Access to Justice. She cited an example of benchmark policy advising judges on “how to interact appropriately with LGBTQ+ individuals” by “using correct pronouns” to ensure the courthouse is friendly and respectful. 

Heaslett also suggested improving the court system could be achieved by pushing grants similar to Redeploy Illinois, expanding local services to adults through “helping courts.” Drug courts or veteran courts are examples of helping courts. These courts look at individuals with crimes that come from drug use, homelessness or mental health and offer services like therapy or treatment rather than incarcerating them. 

“I think those helping courts are worthwhile, and I would be a voice that advocates for Jackson County using them more,” Heaslett said. 

Neither Reed nor VanWinkle had campaign focuses that were discussed in their respective interviews. Both of them had a focus to ensure the people feel heard in court if they were elected.

“When people are dealing with situations in court, they really just want their voices to be heard and understood by the judges,” Reed said.

“All anybody wants to do when they are in front of a judge is feel like the judge is listening and that their concerns are taken seriously,” VanWinkle said.

Snyder said he would focus on mental health issues if elected. 

“We do persons in crisis in coordination with the Carbondale Police Department, my office, and other agencies,” Snyder said. 

Snyder said Solverson started the persons in crisis program in Jackson County.  said he wishes to continue that program and push further to work with the Supreme Court of Illinois to “try and get a mental health court in Jackson County.” Snyder said this would divert people from criminal court who are having mental health problems. 

“I have seen too many people that my office has sought detention examinations that we get told ‘No’ by the state’s attorney’s office,” Snyder said. “Then that person ends up in jail two to three days later, or a week later, and now they are in a confined space, which does not help their mental health.

“That is not serving that person. That is a disservice to them and the community,” Snyder said. 

After the primary, one of the Democratic candidates and Snyder, the Republican candidate, is expected to run against each other in the November general election. Whoever becomes the resident circuit court judge will serve a six-year term before their constituents vote to retain them for another term. 

Staff Reporter Brayden Guy can be reached at [email protected]

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