Sangamon Digest

Casey Costigan retires Oct. 16 after 20 years as a judge and four years as chief judge of the five-county 11th Judicial Circuit (McLean, Livingston, Logan, Woodford and Ford), WGLT reports. He is proud of the circuit’s problem-solving courts — McLean County’s drug court recently marked 20 years and 200 graduates.

Asked about two recent sentences that drew criticism as unequal, Costigan said judges see the full facts and records of each case, which the public may not, and that judges do not compare cases. He also has concerns about how the state will fund its new statewide public defender system.