Former legislator Jerry Costello to be Illinois Director of Agriculture

Chester's former state representative is expected to become the next director of the Illinois Department of Agriculture.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Friday appointed Jerry Costello II of Smithton as the next director of the Illinois Department of Agriculture.

The appointment must be ratified by the state Senate.

Costello, a southern Illinois Democrat born in Franklin County, served nearly eight years in the General Assembly, 2011 to 2019. During that time, he chaired the House Agriculture and Conservation Committee and was a member of the House Environment Committee.

He also served on the Pritzker administration's agriculture transition committee after the governor was elected in 2018.

Costello, 51, grew up in Belleville and spent time on a small farm in southern Illinois' Franklin County, where his family produced crops and raised cattle.

"With farming playing an important role in his family's history and a career of public service, there's no better person to lead the Illinois Department of Agriculture at this time than Jerry Costello," Pritzker said in a news release late Friday.

Costello left the legislature last May to become the director of law enforcement for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

He was replaced in the legislature by former Steeleville trustee Nathan Reitz.

"I'm honored to continue serving the people of Illinois and excited to take the helm at the department I once oversaw in the state legislature," Costello said in a news release.

"As a leading producer of soybeans, corn and swine, Illinois is home to the most dedicated farmers in the world, and I look forward to partnering with them to grow our state's agricultural economy," he said.

Illinois Farm Bureau President Richard Guebert Jr. applauded Pritzker's decision.

"Jerry Costello has a proven record in supporting agriculture," Guebert said in a statement Friday. "In his time serving in the General Assembly, he not only supported agriculture by his votes on key legislation important to agriculture, but he also championed many supportive efforts."

He also served on the Pritzker-Stratton Agriculture Transition Committee.

A graduate of Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Costello joined the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division. Not long after signing up, he and his unit saw combat during Operation Desert Storm.

Following his military service in Iraq, Costello returned to Illinois where he became a police officer and started a family. Initially a patrolman, he would rise through the ranks and become assistant chief of police.

He is the son of former longtime southern Illinois congressman Jerry Costello.