DECATUR - An alleged threat made against a county judge has landed a Decatur attorney in the Macon County Jail.

Mark Bradley, who is running as a write-in candidate for state's attorney, is incarcerated awaiting a bond hearing today on a preliminary charge of intimidating a public official.

Bradley was detained Thursday morning by court security officers after he went to the chambers of Associate Judge Lisa Holder White and allegedly made what the judge believed to be a threatening statement.

Macon County State's Attorney Jack Ahola said his office could not be involved in the case because Bradley was an assistant state's attorney before resigning in April.

Ahola said he filed a petition for appointment of a special prosecutor to handle the matter, and Presiding Circuit Judge Ted Paine appointed Decatur attorney Jeff Justice.

Reports from court security officers on what allegedly occurred in White's chambers had not been completed as of Thursday afternoon, Ahola said.

His best understanding was that Bradley asked the judge's clerk if he could see the judge, and the manner in which he did so was taken by the clerk to be threatening, Ahola said. When the clerk informed the judge of Bradley's request, White also considered the language threatening, and court security was called, he said.

White said Thursday that the judicial rules of professional etiquette require her not to comment on pending legal matters, so she was unable to discuss the incident involving Bradley.

Several complaints about Bradley's conduct in recent months have been filed with the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission, which routinely declines to acknowledge any ongoing investigations. However, several Decatur attorneys have indicated commission personnel have visited Decatur looking into the complaints.

Bradley has been embroiled in controversy since he attempted to run for state's attorney by being appointed to the Nov. 4 ballot on the Green Party ticket in the spring.

Justice, acting as a citizen, filed a complaint with the Macon County Electoral Board seeking Bradley's removal from the ballot. The electoral board agreed with Justice's position that Bradley had been appointed to the ballot illegally and removed him.

Bradley then filed for administrative review of that decision by the circuit court. Judge A.G. Webber IV upheld the electoral board's action. Bradley then filed an appeal, which is pending in the appellate court.

Bradley filed a formal notice that he will be a write-in candidate for state's attorney Nov. 4

Since resigning from the state's attorney's office in April, Bradley has had run-ins with at least four judges and has been reprimanded in open court for his actions, such as filing frivolous motions. In one case, Associate Judge Timothy Steadman took the unusual step of setting aside convictions for auto burglary and stating the reason he did so was the ineffectiveness of Bradley as the defendant's legal counsel.

Using that ruling, numerous motions have been filed by the state's attorney's office seeking to disqualify Bradley as the legal counsel for several people charged with criminal offenses. In some cases, the defendants waived any later claims of ineffectiveness of counsel should they be convicted and seek to appeal, and in others they opted to obtain a different attorney.

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