A resident of Riverside is facing a former Riversider in a race for Cook County judge in the Democratic primary on March 17. Riverside resident Rachel Marrello, a former member of the Riverside Elementary School District 96 Board of Education, is facing former Riverside resident Martin Reggi in the 3rd Judicial Subcircuit which includes much of Riverside and part of Brookfield.
Marrello, 51, has been an attorney for the Cook County Health system since 2022. Prior to that she worked for 11 years as an investigator for Cook County’s Office of Inspector General. She is a graduate of Earlham College and received her law degree from the Chicago Kent College of Law. Before going to work for Cook County Marrello worked for the court appointed Shakman compliance officer responsible for rooting out patronage in Cook County and had contract assignments with two law firms.
Marrello served one term on the District 96 school board from 2013 until 2017. She did not run for reelection but was a forceful member of the school board who was not afraid to speak out. She was a critic of former superintendent Bhavna Sharma-Lewis who ran District 96 for only two years before resigning under pressure in 2015.
Marrello’s husband Dan is a former Riverside police officer who does security work at Riverside Brookfield High School.
Reggi, 73, is making his fourth run for judge, having lost races in 2014, 2018 and 2024. He is a former prosecutor and long-time criminal defense attorney who has a solo law practice based in Berwyn.
While both Marrello and Reggi are rated as qualified or recommended by a number of different bar associations both are rated as not recommended by the Chicago Bar Association.
The Chicago Bar Association’s guide to judicial candidates describes Marrello as “articulate” and states that she has an “excellent demeanor and works well with people.” But the CBA says it can’t rate her as qualified because she has never tried a case.
“Although Ms. Marrello handled simple arbitrations and assisted with litigation matters early in her career, she has never tried a case and lacks the trial court experience required to serve as a Circuit Court judge,” the Chicago Bar Association’s judicial candidate guide states.
In a telephone interview with the Landmark Marrello said while she has never tried a case she has the attributes that a good judge needs.
“My response is yes, it is correct, I don’t have trial experience but I have a lot of legal experience,” Marrello said. “Demeanor is the most important thing in being a judge. The rest of it takes practice and you can learn. But learning to have good judgment and a positive demeanor, being respectful in how to handle people is an inherent trait.”
Marrello said she is a lifelong learner and she will quickly learn how to run a courtroom and preside over a trial.
“I will do everything that I need to do to make sure that I am well prepared and well-studied, but I have the fundamental skills to be able an effective and upstanding judge,” Marrello said.
The Chicago Bar Association also rated Reggi as not recommended.
“The committee has concerns about Mr. Reggi’s organizational skills and whether he could manage a call and listen to evidence and arguments and organize facts properly to analyze them and apply the law,” the Chicago Bar Association’s guide states.
The Landmark twice reached Reggi by telephone for this story but each time Reggi said that he couldn’t speak at that time, once because he was in court. Reggi did respond prior to deadline to a text message from the Landmark asking for an interview.
The 3rd Judicial District includes much of Riverside, Brookfield, North Riverside, Berwyn, Cicero and parts of the southwest side of Chicago.
Judge John Carroll, a former member of the Riverside Township Board is running unopposed in the other 3rd Judicial Subcircuit race. Carroll was appointed to bench by the Illinois Supreme Court last year.