Morgan County State’s Attorney Gray Noll’s term as president of the Illinois State’s Attorneys Association came to an end over the weekend.
The State’s Attorneys Association held its annual meeting in Oak Park and selected a new president to serve in the coming year. McHenry County State’s Attorney Patrick Kenneally will succeed Noll on the executive committee.
Noll says he was pleased to serve for his 1-year term, especially since he’s representing a small downstate county: “The main insight the presidency gave me this year was more of an appreciation and understanding of the legislative process. Certainly, over the course of this year, obviously the SAFE-T Act went into effect. Prior to it going into effect, the Association attempted to and was successful somewhat in getting some amendments to the bill to make it a little more workable. All in all, it was certainly an honor to lead the organization and the Association. I was humbled that they chose me. Usually this position goes to a state’s attorney from a larger county. It was an honor to represent Morgan County, which is obviously considered one of the smaller counties in the state.”
Noll says that it was nice to know that all 102 state’s attorneys experience similar problems and challenges that his office currently experience. Noll says that he does believe that some of the current challenges expressed surrounding the Pretrial Fairness portion of the SAFE-T Act will likely see some tweaks when the General Assembly returns to session in the new year.
He says the State’s Attorneys Association along with the Illinois Sheriffs Association and the Illinois Chiefs of Police are all pushing to make things work better: “All three organizations have concerns about the number of offenses that are ultimately detainable. We would like to add a few of those, and kind of streamline the process. In the end, the SAFE-T Act is the law of the land right now. I think law enforcement and state’s attorneys throughout the state are doing a great job of implementing and enforcing the law as it’s written.”
Noll says he would be happy to serve in any capacity on the State’s Attorneys Association’s executive committee in the near term if he were elected again.