The petition to appoint a special prosecutor can come from any “interested person,” even if that person is not a party in the case. In Illinois, special prosecutors can come from one of four sources:Illinois’ Special Prosecution UnitFormed in the 1980s, the squad of two dozen state government attorneys is housed in an obscure state agency called the Illinois State’s Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor. The Illinois Attorney General’s OfficeThe local state’s attorney or judge can ask the state attorney general to be appointed as a special prosecutor. Prosecutors from another countyIn many states, special prosecutors are most often state’s attorneys in neighboring counties. Example: In 2016, Kane County State’s Attorney Joseph McMahon was appointed as the special prosecutor to handle the murder case against Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke for the 2014 shooting of Laquan McDonald.