A state disciplinary panel is recommending that former Marshall County State’s Attorney Donald Knuckey be suspended from practicing law for at least a year because alcohol addiction has rendered him unfit.

“We doubt that (Knuckey) is capable of practicing law in an ethical manner in his present condition,” a hearing board of the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission said in its report, issued this week.

The ARDC is an arm of the Illinois Supreme Court, which has the final say on how to discipline attorneys for professional misconduct. It isn’t known when the Supreme Court will decide on the Knuckey case.

Knuckey, whose adult son was appointed as his guardian last month, couldn’t be reached for comment Friday.

During a disciplinary hearing in August, psychiatrist Lawrence Jeckel told the ARDC panel he examined Knuckey in November 2007 and determined the 60-year-old is alcohol-dependent and has “mild dementia” probably induced by alcohol.

Jeckel said Knuckey didn’t believe his drinking affected his ability to practice law. But the psychiatrist disagreed, saying Knuckey must be “severely impaired.”

Knuckey didn’t appear at the August hearing in Springfield, which took place because ARDC Administrator Jerome Larkin filed a complaint saying that Knuckey had three drunken-driving convictions and engaged in professional misconduct.

An attorney representing Larkin recommended then that Knuckey’s law license should be suspended for at least a year, and he should be required to prove his fitness before he is allowed to practice law again.

Knuckey “has continued to consume alcohol, and has not obtained necessary treatment, such as that recommended by Dr. Jeckel,” the ARDC hearing board said in its report this week. His misconduct “is seriously aggravated by his failure to answer the disciplinary complaint and failure to appear at his disciplinary hearing.”

Knuckey, of Henry, served about 18½ years as state’s attorney before retiring in July 2003. First elected in 1976, he lost the office in 1980, then won it back in 1988 and was re-elected in 1992, 1996 and 2000.

Adriana Colindres can be reached at (217) 782-6292 or adriana.colindres@sj-r.com