Illinois Attorney General Neil Hartigan will be a guest speaker at a Sept. 9 fundraiser for Jerry Shapiro, Democratic candidate for DeKalb County State’s Attorney.

The reception will be held from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Hillside Country Inn, Route 23, Sycamore.

Hartigan, who has been attorney general since 1980, will endorse Shapiro’s candidacy from the standpoint of a personal friend and colleague and as a member of the Democratic party, said Jeanne Marie Schultz, Hartigan’s press secretary.

A graduate of NIU, Shapiro serves as one of the special assistant attorney generals to Hartigan and handles land-acquisition cases in Northern Illinois.

Shapiro cited one of the reasons he is running for state’s attorney is to stop the high rate of turnover in that office, in which “cases get lost in the system.”

DeKalb County State’s Attorney Philip DiMarzio, who is running for circuit judge against Ed Diedrich, said, “Turnover (in the traffic court) is expected, normal and healthy.”

Shapiro is opposed by Michael Coghlan, Republican candidate for state’s attorney.