CLINTON - When DeWitt County Judge Stephen Peters takes off his robe for the last time July 31, he will trade the legal profession for his two favorite hobbies: model trains and grandchildren.

Peters leaves after nearly 22 years as judge in the county in which he grew up. The retiring 6th Judicial Circuit judge said he and his wife, Carolyn, are looking forward to spending more time with their three grandchildren and the fourth, expected in several months.

A look around the judge's office in the DeWitt County Building reveals the lifelong love he has for trains and the railroads that support them. There are photos of locomotives, the former Clinton depot and train tracks. A model train set-up at home will be expanded when Peters has more free time.

Lunches with his grandfather at the former railroad depot in Clinton spawned the love of trains, said Peters.

"Clinton was a hub for the Illinois Central Railroad. I watched the trains go through as we sat in the restaurant at the depot," he said.

As a circuit judge in a rural county, Peters has handled every type of case that can be filed in a courthouse.

"From speeding to small claims to law cases to murder - you do everything," said Peters.

The case Peters considers among the most memorable was a murder case he handled as the county's state's attorney in 1977. Tony Fairchild was a young construction worker who was kidnapped by two Chicago men on his way to work at the Clinton nuclear power plant. His body was found in a ditch outside Clinton and Peters found himself in the role of prosecutor for a murder case a month after he took office.

"The trial was one of those cases where we had a lot of exhibits, about 130 total. It was a real learning experience because a chain of evidence had to be done for each exhibit," he said.

The two men were convicted in DeWitt County and later faced murder charges in Champaign County in the death of a car salesman.

The law has expanded in sheer volume - state statutes have grown from three volumes to nine in 20 years - and complexity, Peters noted. Keeping up with all the changes in the multiple areas of law is impossible for a judge, said Peters.

"The secret is knowing where to find it," he said of revised laws.

Intertwined with the mundane traffic and civil matters are the cases that are tough to hear. For Peters, those cases involve children who have been harmed and abused. There is no magic formula for handling the stress of those cases, said the 63-year-old jurist.

"You simply deal with it," he said.

Most recently, Peters presided over the murder cases of Amanda Hamm and Maurice LaGrone. The couple was accused of drowning Hamm's three children in Clinton Lake in 2003. LaGrone is serving a life sentence for murder and Hamm, convicted of child endangerment, is scheduled to be released from prison in September.

There are times when a judge is pleased to look back at the positive impact a ruling may have had on a defendant. An invitation to a college graduation ceremony from a man who found himself in Peters' courtroom is among the mementos Peters will take with him. The graduation was five years ago but the invitation still sits on the judge's desk.

A replacement for Peters will be named by Illinois Supreme Court Justice Rita B. Garman.