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HR0407 |
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of |
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| Representatives are pleased to congratulate Eric T. Ruud on the |
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| occasion of his retirement as First Assistant State's Attorney |
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| in the McLean County State's Attorneys Office in Bloomington; |
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| and
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| WHEREAS, Eric Ruud received his Bachelor of Science degree |
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| in Political Science from Illinois State University in 1975; he |
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| then performed post-graduate work in Public Administration at |
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| ISU in 1976; he received his Juris Doctor degree from Southern |
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| Illinois University School of Law in 1980; he attended |
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| Government Civil Practice seminars conducted by the National |
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| College of District Attorneys in 1992, 1993, 1997, and 1999, as |
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| well as a comprehensive National District Attorneys |
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| Association seminar in 2005; he also attended numerous |
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| Continuing Legal Education ethics seminars; and
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| WHEREAS, Eric Ruud has been continuously employed as an |
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| Assistant State's Attorney in McLean County since 1981; after |
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| prosecuting traffic and misdemeanor cases from 1981 to 1983, he |
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| was promoted to the Civil Division of the office; from 1983 to |
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| 1988, he served as the sole Civil Assistant State's Attorney; |
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| in 1988, he was promoted to the position of Chief Assistant |
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| State's Attorney, where he supervised one attorney and one |
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| part-time secretary; in 2004, he was promoted to the position |
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| of First Assistant State's Attorney, where he remained until |
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| his retirement; and
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| WHEREAS, During Eric Ruud's tenure with the Civil Division |
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| of the McLean County State's Attorneys Office, he specialized |
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| in the representation of county government, emphasizing on |
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| taxation, contract negotiations, legislation, school law, |
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| zoning, and environmental law; major clients that he has |
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| represented include the McLean County Board, all McLean County |
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| elected and appointed officials, the Regional Board of School |
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| Trustees, the Regional Office of Education, the Tax Board of |
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| Review, the Regional Planning Commission, and the Emergency |
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| Telephone System Board; and
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| WHEREAS, Eric Ruud has provided representation in a wide |
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| variety of high profile cases and other proceedings; he |
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| represented 118 local governments in McLean County before the |
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| Circuit Court in a tax objection lawsuit filed by nearly 400 |
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| tax objectors seeking approximately $4 million in damages, a |
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| suit that resulted in the court dismissing over 99% of the |
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| objections; he represented McLean County during multiple |
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| hearings on a multimillion dollar tax assessment appeal filed |
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| by the Mitsubishi Motors manufacturing plant; he represented a |
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| Special Hearing Board convened under the authority of the |
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| Illinois School Code to conduct extensive public hearings on a |
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| proposed merger of Community Unit School District #5 and |
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| Bloomington School District #87; he also represented a |
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| tri-county Regional Board of School Trustees during numerous |
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| hearings in cases involving multiple school dissolutions, |
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| annexations, and detachments; and
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| WHEREAS, Eric Ruud represented the McLean County Pollution |
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| Control Site Hearing Committee during its review of and the |
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| public hearing process for three applications seeking site |
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| approval of significant landfill expansions; he represented |
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| the McLean County Board during hearings conducted pursuant to |
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| the Illinois Livestock Management Act for a proposed 3,500 head |
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| dairy facility near Bellflower; he represented the McLean |
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| County Sheriff's Office Merit Commission during several |
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| disciplinary hearings involving charges lodged against police |
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| and correctional officers; he represented or supervised the |
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| representation of the McLean County Zoning Board of Appeals in |
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| numerous special use cases, including wind farms, juvenile |
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| group homes, gravel pits, and wastewater treatment plants; he |
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| also represented McLean County in hearings before the Illinois |
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| Commerce Commission opposing the extension of a crude petroleum |
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| pipeline from Pontiac to Patoka; and
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| WHEREAS, Eric Ruud has taught classes on numerous subjects; |
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| he taught Legal Environment of Business and Business Law |
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| classes as an Adjunct Professor in the Insurance, Finance and |
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| Law Department at Illinois State University from January 1989 |
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| through May 1993; he was a guest lecturer for many years in |
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| Political Science and Pre-Law classes at ISU; he has been a |
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| frequent lecturer at training seminars sponsored by the |
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| Illinois Appellate Prosecutors Office and Illinois State's |
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| Attorneys Association; he has also frequently conducted |
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| on-site compliance seminars relating to the Illinois Open |
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| Meetings Act, Illinois Freedom of Information Act, and State |
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| Officials and Employees Ethics Act for numerous boards |
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| representing townships, cities, towns and villages in McLean |
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| County; and
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| WHEREAS, Eric Ruud is a member of numerous boards and |
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| organizations, including the Illinois State University |
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| Laboratory Schools Citizens Advisory Board, the Illinois State |
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| University Ambassador Committee for Laboratory Schools |
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| Fundraising Campaign, the Illinois State University Redbird |
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| Club, the University High School Alumni Association, and the |
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| McLean County Bar Association; he is a past member of the |
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| Noah's Ark Pre-School Board of Directors, the Illinois State |
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| University Friends of the Arts, the Town of Normal Community |
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| Relations Committee on Town/Gown Affairs, and the Town of |
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| Normal Human Relations Commission; he has also conducted |
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| several Career Day presentations at local junior high and high |
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| school classes, as well as numerous presentations on behalf of |
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| the McLean County State's Attorneys Office before numerous |
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| community service organizations, including the Kiwanis, |
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| Rotary, Lions, and Exchange Clubs; and
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| WHEREAS, Eric Ruud has provided pro bono legal advice to |
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| the Youth Impact Board, the Child Protection Network Board, the |
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| McLean County Crime Detection Board, the United Workforce |
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| Development Board, the Recovery Starts Today Board, the McLean |
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| County Rural Mayors Association, and the McLean County Fire |
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| Chiefs Association; and
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| WHEREAS, Eric Ruud has been the recipient of numerous |
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| awards for his service to his community, including the |
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| Outstanding Service Award from the Illinois Association of |
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| Regional Superintendents of Schools in 2007 and the Alumni |
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| Service Award from the University High School Alumni |
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| Association in 2007; and
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| WHEREAS, Eric Ruud and his wife, Brenda, reside in Normal |
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| with their two children, Chris and Caity; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE |
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| NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we |
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| congratulate Eric T. Ruud on the occasion of his retirement and |
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| wish him many happy and healthy retirement years; and be it |
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| further
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