The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
Kristen Petrie was sworn in Friday afternoon by Judge Ray Cavanaugh as Henderson County State’s Attorney.
Petrie was recommended by the Henderson County Republican Central Committee and appointed by the Henderson County Board on Tuesday, May 13. She will replace Susan M. Maxwell-Schneider, who announced her resignation in April.
Maxwell-Schneider was appointed State’s Attorney in September of last year following Rachel Mast’s appointment to Associate Judge and ran uncontested in November’s General Election.
Petrie, who attended undergraduate school at Marquette University in Milwaukee and law school at Loyola University Chicago, is returning to West-Central Illinois after spending the last five years in Texas.
She began her career in Macomb in private practice in the early 2000s. She later worked as an Assistant State’s Attorney in the McDonough County State’s Attorney’s Office before becoming the City Attorney for Macomb, a position she held for nearly a decade.
In 2020, Petrie took a job with the federal government, working for the Department of Homeland Security in San Antonio, Texas.
“I just wanted to get back to calmer waters,” said Petrie. Although she grew up in Chicago and northern Illinois, this area feels like home.
“I spent almost 20 years in Macomb, and my kids were all raised there, so [for my family], this is home.”