Madison County judge to retire

KSDK -- Associate Circuit Judge Ralph J. Mendelsohn will step down from the bench at the end of the year and retire.

According to the Office of the Madison County Chief Judge Ann Callis, Mendelsohn's last day on the job will be December 29.

Mendelsohn was appointed Associate Circuit Judge in the Third Judicial Circuit in February 2000 and subsequently reappointed in June 2003 and June 2007. Since December 2004, Mendelsohn has served as the presiding judge of the Associate Judge Civil Division.

Prior to being a judge, Mendelsohn served as special prosecutor in the nine counties of the First Judicial Circuit. He also operated a private practice in Alton-Godfrey for more than two decades and served as a part-time public defender.