Richard A. Runde is a native of Teutopolis, Illinois.  He graduated from the University of Illinois in 1974 with a degree in history.   Thereafter, he attended John Marhsall Law School where he graduated with a Juris Doctorate in 1977.  Dick returned to his home area after law school and accepted a position with the Law Office of F. Ronald Ealy before accepting a position as Assistant State’s Attorney in 1979.  He was elected Effingham County State’s Attorney in 1984.  He later became a member of the firm of Meyer, Keller & Runde, then partnered with Rick Keller in the Keller & Runde firm in 1993.  The two maintained the practice until merging with Orr Law, LLC in 2015.

Dick concentrated his practice in criminal defense and probate.  He served as Effingham County Conflicts Public Defender for approximately 20 years.   He is a member of the Knights of Columbus and Civic Club in Teutopolis while also serving on the Board of Directors for the Teutopolis Sate Bank.

Married to Deb Jansen Runde, a retired nurse from St. Anthony’s Memorial Hospital, the two have five children: Julie Althoff (Josh) who is a Special Educational teacher at St. Ahthony Schools, Dennis Runde (Kim) who is owner of Runde Remodeling, Ted Runde (Jenn) who is employed with J&J Ventures, Tim Runde (Kelsey) who is employed at Teutopolis CUSD #50 and Anne Kottmann (Taylor) who is employed at Empower Me Wellness in St. Louis, Mo.   He and his wife have 13 grandchildren.