[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 135 (Friday, September 19, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1467]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  HONORING CHARLES GARNATI FOR HIS 30 YEARS OF SERVICE AS WILLIAMSON 
                        COUNTY STATE'S ATTORNEY

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. WILLIAM L. ENYART

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 18, 2014

  Mr. ENYART. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask my colleagues to join me 
in honoring Charles Garnati, who retired this month after 30 years as 
State's Attorney for Williamson County, Illinois.
  Charles Garnati has actually served in the Williamson County State's 
Attorney's office for parts of five decades. He worked in the office 
for a brief time in the 1970s and then was elected to his first term as 
State's Attorney in 1984. He would serve continuously as State's 
Attorney until retiring this month due to health reasons. At his 
retirement, Garnati was the longest continuously serving state's 
attorney in the State of Illinois.
  During his career as State's Attorney, Garnati has prosecuted 
perpetrators of the most heinous crimes, including 30 murder trials. He 
was able to get first degree murder convictions in 29 of those 30 
trials. Garnati is quick to praise his legal staff in the State's 
Attorney's office as well as the law enforcement agencies within his 
jurisdiction for the success rate of his office.
  Garnati always approached his job as both making those who commit 
crimes pay for their actions and also to provide justice to the victims 
of those crimes. Particularly in murder cases, he was keenly aware of 
the pain suffered by the families of victims.
  Garnati accepted as a personal challenge the prosecution of those who 
harmed children. As part of that crusade, he helped found two programs 
for children, the Williamson County Child Advocacy Center and the Court 
Appointed Special Advocates of Williamson County program. His annual 
golf scramble has raised more than $350,000 for these programs.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in wishing Charles 
Garnati well and thanking him for a lifetime of service to the people 
of Southern Illinois.

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