Biography

Harris H. Agnew, past chief judge of the 17th Judicial Circuit for the State of Illinois for 11 years, served as a circuit judge for 22 years. He retired from the bench in December 1996. During this time, Judge Agnew served as the supervising judge of the first Mandatory Court-Annexed Arbitration Pilot Program in Illinois.

Judge Agnew is past chair of the Illinois Judicial Conference's Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee, the Illinois Judges Association's Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee, and the Illinois State Bar Association's Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee. He continues as a member of the Illinois Judicial Conference and the Illinois State Bar Association's Alternative Dispute Resolution Committees.

Judge Agnew provided leadership to create a pilot major civil case mediation program for cases over $30,000 in the 17th Judicial Circuit.

He began the practice of law (of counsel) with his son, Patrick H. Agnew, at Agnew Law Office in Rockford, Illinois in January 1997. Also in 1997, he was elected to the position of commissioner of the Rockford Park District and was appointed to the Editorial Board of the Rockford Register Star, as a citizen representative where he continues as a member of the Editorial Board. Judge Agnew is on the Advisory Committee for the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for the Courts and media, University of Nevada-Reno.

He received his B.S. degree in business administration and marketing from Northern Illinois University and his J.D. degree from The John Marshall Law School.