Judge Ronald R. Duebbert
(Photo courtesy of Citizens for Ron Duebbert)

A newly elected St. Clair County Circuit Court judge is facing a possible judicial misconduct charge, amid allegations he allowed a convicted felon, on parole for criminal assault, to take up residence in his Belleville home.

The judicial misconduct complaint was filed earlier this month after the parolee was charged with first degree murder.

In a Jan. 7 letter to the Illinois Judicial Inquiry Board, St. Clair County State’s Attorney Brendan Kelly alleges that 20^th Judicial Circuit Court Judge Ronald R. Duebbert violated rule of judicial conduct by making false and unauthorized statements during the investigation of a murder.

At the time the St. Louis Major Case Squad was investigating the Dec. 30 death of Carl Silas, 28, who was shot and killed in an apartment in the 2900 block of West Boulevard, south of Carlyle Avenue, in an unincorporated area of St. Clair County just east of Belleville.

On Jan. 3, David E. Field, 20, who then listed an address in East St. Louis, was charged with first-degree murder in the killing.

However, evidence suggests that Fields had lived for at least a time in Duebbert’s residence in Belleville.

On the same day that Fields was charged with murder, Chief 20th Judicial Circuit Court Chief Judge Andres Gleeson reassigned Duebbert from hearing cases to administrative duties.

The following day (Jan. 7), Gleeson approved a request for a special prosecutor, filed by State’s Attorney Kelly, to weight obstruction of justice charges against an unnamed St. Clair County judge, related to the murder case against Fields.

State’s Attorney Kelly filed the complaint with the judicial inquiry board, after Gleeson informed him that Fields, following his release on parole from the Illinois Department of Corrections, had registered on the Illinois State Police Murder and Violent Offender Against Youth database using Duebbert’s address.

In 2015, Fields was sentenced to six years in prison by Judge John Baricevic, after pleading guilty to the 2013 aggravated battery of a pregnant 17-year-old Belleville East High School student in an area off the school’s main campus.  A related sexual assault charge was dismissed.

Fields was released on parole on Oct. 24 and registered, as required under Illinois law, in the state’s violent offender data base.   The state’s attorney’s complaint does not indicate exactly how long Fields may have lived at Duebbert’s residence following his parole.

However, Gleeson told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he noticed Fields’ use of the judge’s address and began enquiring about the living arrangement on Dec. 1.   He concludes Fields was living in the judge’s residence at that time.

He said he referred the matter to both the state’s attorney’s office and the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department out of concern over both security and judicial propriety. The St. Louis Major Case Squad, which had been investigating the murder at the request of St. Clair County Sheriff Rick Watson, has reportedly recommended obstruction of justice charges be filed against Duebbert.

In an interview with the Belleville News Democrat, Duebbert acknowledged he had allowed Fields to live at his residence. He said he had met Fields by chance in a law firm parking lot in 2013 and was hoping to assist the young man to find a job and permanent residence, following his parole. The judge denied having a personal relationship with Fields.

Duebbert was elected to the bench on Nov. 8, defeating Baricveic, and sworn in on Dec. 5, but had been only presiding only traffic cases and initial court appearances; not felony cases.

— St. Clair judge faces possible judicial misconduct charge —