Winnebago County State's Attorney candidates speak at forum

Candidates for the Winnebago County State's Attorney Office speak at a forum Wednesday night, each laying out their priorities and why they're the best fit for the job.

Both current Winnebago County State's Attorney Joe Bruscato and his challenge Glen Weber spoke for 10 minutes each, then took questions from the crowd.     

The forum took place at the Winnebago County Bar Association meeting Wednesday night.

Bruscato spoke about his 4 years in office and how he made it a priority to work with the community and develop partnerships with organizations.  Highlighting how the jail population in Rockford has dropped by 10-percent in the last three months.

Glen Weber spoke about his experience as a trial lawyer, working on more than 40 first degree murder cases.

He also added he thinks Bruscato's priorities are misplaced, and that he should focus more on getting convictions than community outreach.

"What are the priorities of the state's attorney," asked Weber.  "To spend 3 1/2 years issuing press releases about programs and plea bargains while the killer of your colleague finds a work release program for himself?"

"You do have a clear choice for the election for state's attorney," said Bruscato  "You can elect a lawyer with prosecution experience or you can elect a prosecutor, and an administrator, and a advocate, and a steward, and a mentor, and a leader, you can elect a state's attorney."

Winnebago County residents will get a chance to decide who they want as their state's attorney during the November 6th election.