Ron Spears

1st Vice-President

     Ron Spears is the Resident Circuit Judge for Christian County in the Fourth Judicial Circuit.  He graduated with honors from the University of Illinois in 1974 and Summa Cum Laude from Southern Illinois University School of Law in 1977, where he served as Editor-in-chief of the law review.  From 1977 until 1979, Spears served as Law Clerk for Judge J. Waldo Ackerman in the United States District Court in Springfield, Illinois.  In 1979, Spears joined the Taylorville law firm of Miley, Meyer & Austin, where he was engaged in the general practice of law, with emphasis on litigation in state and federal courts.   He continued to practice law until the Illinois Supreme Court appointed him to the Circuit Court in 1993.

     Spears was elected Resident Circuit Judge in 1994, and retained in the position by election in 2000 and 2006.  Spears has presided over civil and criminal cases bench and jury trials throughout the nine county Fourth Judicial Circuit.  He serves as a mentor for new judges, has served on the Supreme Court Committee on Judicial Conduct, and is presently on the Illinois Judicial Conference Committee on Education for judges.

     Spears has published articles on legal subjects and served on the teaching faculty for seminars for lawyers and judges on various legal topics.  He is active in the Illinois State Bar Association.  He is Second Vice-President of the Illinois Judges Association and Immediate Past-President of the Lincoln-Douglas American Inn of Court.  He is also a member of the American Bar Association and local Bar Associations.

     Spears has been active in public service and church activities.  He is a member and past-President of the Taylorville Optimist Club, past-President and Drive Fund Chair of the YMCA and United Fund, and a public speaker for many civic and memorial celebrations.  He is Moderator and a Deacon for Bethel Baptist Church.  Spears served over 34 years in the Illinois Army National Guard, where he retired as a Colonel in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps and a Certified Military Judge.  Spears resides in Taylorville with Annette, his wife of over 33 years.  They have one adult child.