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NAME: Lark Cowart
POSITION FOR WHICH YOU ARE A CANDIDATE:
Judge 16th Circuit Court
1. Why are you seeking this position?
I feel strongly about service to my community and have served the people of Kane County for the past 14 years as a prosecutor. I want to continue to serve the people of Kane County as a Judge. I am concerned about the path we are on in this county, and I realized I needed to be part of the change for better. While I believe the legal system in Kane County is making great strides in how we operate as a result of current research, it takes more than just institutional reform; it takes personal reform. We need to change how we view the people in the system. We need to stop defining people by their worst moment, see them as humans first, and then use the consequence imposed to get people onto a better path in life.
2. What experience and background do you have which qualifies you for this position?
It has been a lifelong goal to be a judge so I purposefully positioned my professional path to gain what I felt was the necessary experience. To that end, I externed with a federal judge, was a staff attorney for a team of felony judges at 26th and California in Chicago, and then clerked at the appellate court. I did all of this so I would truly know what the job of being a judge entails. After that, I spent the next fourteen years as a prosecutor in Kane County, in the courtroom every day, so I would have the experience and background necessary to be a n effective judge. I also have a master’s degree in dispute resolution, have worked as a mediator, and am a licensed facilitator of restorative practices.
3. What will be your greatest challenge if elected?
My biggest challenge is to fight every day to be the kind of judge I aspire to be. I believe the justice imposed by the court has to serve the dual purposes of holding people accountable and of helping people get onto a different better path. I also believe people need to feel they are seen and heard in court to feel that justice has been done. The challenge is that it takes time, information, and caring in order to have that individualized justice. It requires time to make connections with the litigants when time is a precious commodity. It takes information about the litigants to have a personalized consequence but that information is not always available. It also takes caring from the court instead of becoming desensitized.
Will you attend the 2/28 Elgin candidate forum? Yes, I will attend the forum
Will you attend the 3/6 Dundee candidate forum? Yes, I will attend the forum
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