Farris sworn in as Alexander County circuit judge

CAIRO, Ill. -- Jeff Farris' voice caught Friday afternoon as he addressed his longtime colleagues in the Alexander County, Illinois, state's attorney's office.

"Your staff's got your back," he said. "I'm going to miss you, but I'm going to be right across the hall."

Several members of that staff smiled through tears as they sat in the front row of the packed courtroom at the Alexander County courthouse, watching Illinois Supreme Court Justice Lloyd Karmeier swear Farris in as the county's resident circuit judge.

"I was there when he got there," staff member Sharyl Davis said after the ceremony. "I'm starting my third state's attorney now."

Farris, who spent the past 22 years as state's attorney in Illinois' southernmost county, was appointed earlier this month to replace Judge Stephen Spomer, who retired Nov. 30.

Spomer was one of several current and former Illinois judges on hand for the ceremony.

Karmeier told Farris his work as a judge will influence public perceptions about the judicial system, as most people's only experience with the court system comes at the trial level.

"You become the face of the judiciary. ... How they perceive you is how justice is going to be perceived," Karmeier said.

After being sworn in, Farris -- a lifelong resident of Alexander County who grew up on a farm in Olive Branch, Illinois -- spoke of his pride in and fondness for the area.

"When we were growing up, on the same morning, we could be ringing hogs, and our mom could be wringing chickens," he reminisced. "Best part of that: If chickens were being wrung, dumplings were coming."

Farris said he and his brother had what he described as "a charmed childhood" in the small community that lies along Illinois 3 between Cairo and Thebes.

"Every summer of our life --" Farris paused, choking up. "I'm soft!" he said, laughing and wiping his eyes before continuing: "We walked up the steps of the Methodist church, and that's our home."

Farris closed with the words of another Illinois lawyer.

"'We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature,'" he said, quoting Abraham Lincoln. "Today, if I leave you with anything, I want you to call upon -- whenever you have one of those moments when you want to just jerk someone -- to call upon those better angels of your nature."

The emotional speech, which stood in striking contrast to Farris' usually stern courtroom demeanor, represented Farris at his best, said Judge Mark Clarke, who presided over the ceremony.

"We see each other a lot, through a lot of different kinds of cases, through a lot of different kinds of stressful situations, and when Jeff is at his best is when Jeff is like you just saw him: open, caring, respectful, mindful of the things that happen," Clarke said. "... That Judge Jeff Farris is going to continue to make history every day."

epriddy@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

Cairo, Ill.