Governor Announces Appointments

Names Rep. Raymond Poe the Director of the Dept. of Agriculture

SPRINGFIELD - Governor Bruce Rauner announced today he has named a new Director of the Department of Agriculture. He has also made an appointment to the Illinois Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission.

Name: Raymond Poe
Position: Director - Illinois Department of Agriculture

Governor Bruce Rauner has appointed life-long farmer and Illinois State Representative Raymond Poe the Director of the Department of Agriculture. Poe's experience as a legislator, as a businessman and as a farmer makes him the ideal choice to lead the agency.

Poe has represented the citizens of Central Illinois for the past 20 years as a member of the General Assembly. He's a member of the Agriculture & Conservation; Appropriations-Higher Education; Personnel & Pensions; and Business Occupational Licenses (Republican Spokesperson) committees. He has farmed in Sangamon County his entire life.

In addition to his legislative experience, he served on the Williamsville School Board, where he was president for three years. He is also the former president of the Sangamon County Farm Bureau and the former president of the Lincoln Land Farm Supply.

Poe is a graduate of DeVry Institute of Technology in Chicago. He lives in rural Springfield.

Name: James Mullenix
Position: Commissioner - Illinois Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission

Governor Bruce Rauner has appointed James Mullenix to the Illinois Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission. Mullenix brings nearly 35 years of experience as a defense attorney to the commission.

Currently, Mullenix is an attorney at Koehler Mullenix, LLC where he handles criminal defense cases. Prior to his work in private practice, he was an Assistant Public Defender at the Cook County Public Defender's Office. In this role he handled a wide-variety of cases from misdemeanors to capital murder cases.

Mullenix earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Notre Dame and his law degree from Loyola University. He is a former member of the Peace Corps. He lives in Evanston.