Chancey enters state’s attorney’s race

By Editor | April 25, 2012 |

About three weeks after Stephen Friedel announced that he would not seek a fourth term as Fayette County’s state’s attorney, his assistant has decided to run for that office.

Matt Chancey, who has served as Friedel’s assistant since 2007, announced on Tuesday that he will run the office that Friedel has held since 2000.
Chancey’s announcement came six days after the Fayette County Democratic Central Committee voted to allow him to run on the party’s ticket in November.
Chancey, a resident of the Mulberry Grove area, will oppose Republican Joshua Morrison, a Pana native who is currently serving as an assistant state’s attorney in Sangamon County.
The Democratic candidate is a Southern Illinois native who graduated from Murphysboro High School, earned a bachelor’s degree from Southern Illinois University in 1975, then earned his law degree from Chicago-Kent College of Law in 1978, graduating with honors.
While serving as assistant state’s attorney in Fayette County, Chancey has tried a wide variety of cases, including first-degree murder, multiple methamphetamine cases, and several sexual assault and sexual abuse cases.
He notes that he also provides training to law enforcement agencies and other groups, through agencies such as the Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Prevent Child Abuse Illinois and Illinois Family Violence Coordinating Council.
“I have been guided as a prosecutor by a simple creed – seek justice do the right thing,” Chancey said.
Prior to coming to Fayette County, Chancey served in the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office for 23 years.
In Lake County, Chancey rose to the position of chief of the Criminal Division, where he supervised 50 attorneys.
During his career in Lake County, Chancey prosecuted many high-profile cases, including several murder, sexual assault, white collar, public corruption and gang crime prosecutions.
In the process he worked with law enforcement agencies ranging from one man police departments to multi-jurisdictional task forces, Illinois State Police and federal law enforcement agencies, such as the FBI, NCIS, DEA, Secret Service and BATF.
Chancey created an in-house training program in Lake County that has become an accredited mandatory legal education program. He has been an instructor for the Illinois State’s Attorney’s Appellate Prosecutor’s Office and the National College of District Attorneys. He has also served as a contract attorney for the Appellate Prosecutor, writing appellate briefs and arguing cases before the Illinois Appellate Court.
Chancey said he came to Fayette County to be closer to his elderly parents, who live in De Soto.
About Chancey’s service in his office, Friedel said, “Matt is an elite prosecutor, as good as any in the state.
“He is a man of integrity who is trusted by the judges of the Fourth Judicial Circuit, the local defense bar and everyone involved in the court system.
“This is a tremendous opportunity for Fayette County, and I hope the people of Fayette County recognize how fortunate they are to have a person of Matt’s quality stepping up to run for state’s attorney,” Friedel said.
Lake County State’s Attorney Michael Waller described Chancey by saying he’s “as good a prosecutor as you will find in this state.
“He was so highly thought of as a prosecutor in Lake County that during a brief time when he was in private practice, he was asked to serve as a special prosecutor to handle a difficult, high-profile murder case.”
Waller also praised Chancey as a person who is adept at training other lawyers in the art and skills of effective prosecution.
Chancey said, “I have hanging in my office a quote from the Greek philosopher Solon, known as the law giver of Athens – ‘There can be no justice until those uninjured by crime become as indignant as those who are.’
“This serves as a reminder that the prosecutor is the voice of the victim in our court system and should always take into consideration the wishes and the needs of the victims of crime,” Chancey said.
“Another quote you will find on my office wall is from Supreme Court Justice George Sutherland, who said that while a prosecutor may and should ‘strike hard blows, he is not at liberty to strike foul ones,’ and that his ultimate goal must be not to ‘win a case, but that justice shall be done.’
“Justice Sutherland reminds us that we represent all of the People and more importantly we represent the loftiest of concepts – seeking justice,” Chancey said.