Carla Bender
Fourth District Appellate Court

The Honorable Carla Bender is beginning her second day as the Appellate Court Clerk for the Fourth District.  She

had a fantastic first day.  She actually was able to leave on time. 

For those of you who were unable to attend her swearing in last Friday, Sept. 25, 2009 here is a photo.

(Justice John W. Turner Fourth District Appellate Court swearing in
Carla Bender. 
Logan County Resident Circuit Judge Thomas Harris looks on.)

Carla served as Logan County Circuit Court Clerk from December 1, 1992 until September 30, 2009.  She successfully

led Logan County Circuit Clerk's office into many initiatives that were on the cutting edge of technology.  Her

latest initiative was being the first small County to pilot Electronic Guilty Plea (which allows traffic violators

with a "may appear ticket" to plead guilty and pay their ticket on line). 
During her almost 17 years as Logan County Circuit Court Clerk Carla earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Legal

Studies and Master of Arts in Communication from the University of Illinois.  She served the Illinois Association of

Court Clerks as President in 2002.  Following her tenure as president, she served as the Co-Chair of our Legislative

Committee, Chairman of our PAC and served in an administrative role for the Association.  Carla has served on the

Executive Board of the Illinois Association of County Officials (IACO) for the past 9 years, stepping down as First

Vice President following her appointment as Appellate Court Clerk.

Prior to being elected Circuit Court Clerk for Logan County in 1992, Carla was a Probation officer and later a Field

Coordinator in the Probation Division of the Administrative Office of Illinois Courts.

Carla and her husband Dave Bender and their two children continue to reside in Logan County.

The Illinois Association of Court Clerks salutes Carla Bender for her professional accomplishments and thanks her

for 17 years of service to the Illinois Association of Court Clerks.