Jacqueline Lacy

State’s Attorney

Jacqueline M. Lacy earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Law Enforcement and Justice Administration, cum laude, from Western Illinois University in 1998 and her Juris Doctor from The John Marshall Law School in 2002. She is licensed as an attorney in the state of Illinois, 2003; U. S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, 2003; U. S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois Trial Bar, 2005.

In 2010 Ms. Lacy was appointed as the Vermilion County Public Defender. Prior to coming to Vermilion County, Ms. Lacy had been a supervising senior assistant in the DuPage County Public Defender’s Office since 2008. She began her career there advocating for the indigent, committed to ensuring proper procedures were followed in the courtroom as required by the United States and Illinois Constitutions. She has spent the last 22 years in courtrooms litigating criminal and civil cases. Ms. Lacy spent several years in private practice assisting divorce and criminal clients as well as prosecuting on a substitute basis for the Village of Arlington Heights as an associate for The Law Offices of Thomas Glasgow, Ltd.

Ms. Lacy made history in 2016 when she was elected as the first female State’s Attorney in Vermilion County. She earned re-election in 2020 and again in 2024, becoming the first person in county history to serve a third consecutive term in the role.

Ms. Lacy is a dedicated community leader, and a committed legal professional with a strong record of public service. She worked with the late Senator Scott Bennett to found the Vermilion County Child Advocacy Center in 2020, and currently serves as the Board Chair. Her past community roles include serving as a Leadership Tomorrow mentor, as a board member for the Danville Library Foundation, the Danville Boys & Girls Club, and the Danville Symphony Orchestra. She is a former member of Hoopeston Area Women Making a Difference and of the Danville Rotary Club.

Ms. Lacy was honored as a Gift of Hope Tissue and Organ Donation Award recipient, and in March 2023, she was featured in the News-Gazette’s Women’s History Month special, “Making Herstory.” Ms. Lacy was named one of Central Illinois Business Magazine’s “Forty Under 40” in 2014, she received the Patriotic Employer Award from the U.S. Department of Defense in 2015, and was selected as an Edgar Fellow in 2016.

Professionally, Ms. Lacy is a member of the Vermilion County Bar Association, the Illinois State Bar Association, and the National Rifle Association. She currently serves as a Board Member at Large for the Illinois State’s Attorneys Association. Her previous affiliations include service on the Illinois Supreme Court Committee on Pattern Jury Instructions – Criminal, and the East Central Illinois Women Attorneys Association.