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147 too many – our communities are in crisis

Communities across Illinois are in crisis. This past weekend at least 106 people were shot in Chicago, 13 of them fatally. The victims included a three-year-old child and a 13-year-old girl, Amaria Jones, who was shot as she danced a Tik Tok dance for her mother in her home. This tragedy marks the most people […]

A Convergence of Two Crises: a Virus and Gun Violence

We’ve seen the power of Illinois’s government in coming together swiftly to assemble resources and pass legislation to keep residents safe from a pandemic. Why is our epidemic of gun violence any different? Chicago’s Black communities have been ripped apart for decades by gun violence – with little action from our state legislature. The current […]

Illinois Takes the Lead in Gun Safety – Nominates All 18 Candidates

Illinois, you stepped it up in the primary election. To all of the voters who showed up to the polls in the midst of a national health crisis to nominate candidates who will keep illegal guns off of our streets – I applaud you. Together, you cast your votes and nominated each and every one […]

6 months and counting…

It has been 6 months since the workplace massacre in Aurora, Illinois and mass shootings and everyday urban gun violence continue to destroy our communities while we wait for our elected officials to do something. There is a solution. Senate Bill 1966, the FIX THE FOID Act, which passed out of the House of Representatives in May, would ensure […]

ADVOCATES CALL ON SENATE AND GOVERNOR TO ACT NOW

STATEMENT: ILLINOIS GUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION ADVOCATES CALL ON SENATE AND GOVERNOR TO ACT NOW BEFORE MORE LIVES ARE LOST Arlington Heights, IL – Aurora, Illinois to Dayton, Ohio and how many in between? It has been 7 months since the workplace massacre in Aurora, and mass shootings and everyday urban gun violence continue to destroy […]

We have the power, but do we have the will?

Our country is reeling from mass shootings in El Paso, Dayton, Gilroy and Brooklyn over the past two weeks. This morning the President called for tightening up background checks. Our city suffered 51 shootings leaving 7 people dead over the weekend, including two mass shootings in one police district. A Chicago hospital stopped accepting patients […]

June 20 is National GVP Day of Action

June is Gun Violence Awareness Month, and today is a national day of action. During Gun Violence Awareness Month and since the General Assembly recessed, 26 people have been shot and killed and 177 people have been shot and wounded. Are you aware of these numbers? In May, the Illinois House passed SB 1966, the Fix the FOID Act. SB 1966 is […]

SB 337 Signed Into Law!

Sixteen years ago, a new state senator was sworn into office, and he made it a priority to keep our children, families and communities safe from gun violence. That year, he filed a bill to license Illinois gun dealers in order to hold corrupt dealers accountable and curb the flow of illegal guns into our […]

This is where we are in America today. Let’s Change it.

Did you catch the 60 Minutes segment last night on what makes the semi-automatic AR-15 the weapon of choice for mass shooters? AR-15 ammunition travels up to three times the speed of sound. “The bones aren’t going to just break, they’re going to shatter. Organs aren’t just going to tear or have bruises on them, they … are going […]

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1235 N Clybourn Ave Ste A246
Chicago, IL 60610 – 2435
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Rick Ryan

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As the Lake County State’s Attorney, I am honored and humbled every day to lead the fight against crime, and to strive to ensure equal and just treatment under the law. I have been an attorney for twenty-two years – and each of those years has made me a stronger and smarter advocate for people, for ideas, and for the principles that unite us all.

I am so proud to lead an office of 140 dedicated colleagues who serve the public by prosecuting crime, advocating for victims, and planning crime prevention programs. I am also proud to work with hundreds of Lake County police officers on a daily basis to connect with every community and to develop comprehensive, holistic plans to respond to the mental health and economic crisis that arose from the COVID-19 pandemic.

On one particular day, July 4, 2022, I was saddened, inspired, and motivated by the bravery of so many people. We will always stand with the victims and honor the police and other first responders who ran toward the danger. Just as so many heroes that day thought only of themselves, I also witnessed the prosecutors in my office answer the call to serve survivors and their community – even on one of its darkest days.

Every moment that I have been your legal representative, I have worked tirelessly to oversee prosecutions and to implement policies that make my family and my neighbors safer in the short term and in the long term. That is the job of the State’s Attorney: to prosecute, to innovate, and to strategically plan.

I was raised in a small town. My parents are teachers, and from them, I learned that everyone must be treated equally and that America’s sacred mission is to provide a political, economic, and legal system that allows anyone to prosper regardless of the circumstances of their birth. After graduating from Knox College and the University of Chicago Law School, I spent two years at a first-rate civil law firm in Chicago where I learned that hard work and attention to detail on every case mean the difference between success and failure.

With my wonderful wife Stephanie, I am raising my two sons, Sam and Teddy, in Lake County. Nothing is more important to me than my family’s safety and I bring that passion and determination to protect all families with me to work every day.

I joined the Lake County Public Defender’s Office in 2003 and started my own law firm in 2009. From 2003 until 2020, I watched the Lake County legal system fail to prioritize violent crime, prevent wrongful prosecutions, or address racial disparities.

So, in 2019, I decided to run for State’s Attorney so that I could serve our community by improving a local legal system that cared more about covering up its mistakes and biases than uncovering new and innovative ways to help people.

I won the 2020 election, and became the first Democrat to hold this position in 40 years. Bringing in a new party wasn’t as important as ending 40 years of one mindset that had forgotten the people and that had failed to act urgently to develop new strategic plans to prevent crime while also ensuring that each prosecution is smart, moral, and just.

We have followed through on our promises. We have built the first-ever violent crimes unit, increased prosecutors in our domestic violence division, and vastly upgraded our cyber lab. Now, we have top-notch software and personnel to finally keep up with those who would exploit others.

We have been awarded a large federal grant to bring the first ever Human Trafficking Task Force to Lake County. We have deepened our investment in people by bringing in more victim specialists and raising the salaries of many of our prosecutors.

But the work goes on. We must expand our prevention efforts that are starting with the Gun Violence Prevention Initiative launched in 2022. And we know that the opioid crisis touches thousands of lives throughout this country.

I am proud to serve on the Executive Board of the Lake County Opioid Initiative which has been working tirelessly since its founding in 2012 to reverse a devastating trend of increased overdoses. In 2022, our office was part of a national settlement against opioid manufacturers and distributors.

As an attorney of 22 years, I have committed my life to helping people, and I have conducted over 70 jury trials in Lake County, and handled appeals that have culminated in over 20 oral arguments before the appellate court and Supreme Court of Illinois.

I see my time in this office as the next phase of helping a community that I love and where I have chosen to raise my family. In my first term, we have made Lake County safer and fairer through just prosecutions, constitutional policing, and innovative crime prevention policies.