State Senator Doris Turner, a lifelong resident of Springfield, was appointed to represent the 48th Senate District in February 2021 following a long and productive tenure on the Springfield City Council and Sangamon County Board.

Prior to serving in the Illinois Senate, Turner worked for the State of Illinois for 33 years, spending 22 of those years with the Illinois Department of Public Health.

During Turner’s time in office, she has been a fierce advocate for education funding, college affordability, and ensuring educators and staff have the tools to teach the future leaders of our great state.

She has fought to support our education system, institutions of higher learning and job training programs to ensure children across Illinois have the opportunities to be successful.

Turner currently serves as chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee, and is a member of the Appropriation-Education, Behavioral and Mental Health, Education, Energy and Public Utilities, Health and Human Services and State Government Committees.

As a devoted member of the community, Senator Turner has spent her life working to enhance the lives of those around her. She is a past member of the Springfield/Sangamon County Health Initiative Board of Directors, Springfield/Sangamon County Regional Planning Commission and Voices for Illinois Children Springfield Leadership Team. She is a current member of the Memorial Medical Center Parent University Newsletter Editorial Board, Springfield/Sangamon County Minority Health Coalition, Lincoln Land Community College Eastside Advisory Board, Springfield Chamber of Commerce Q5 Initiative Diversity Council, and a founding board member of the Southern Illinois University Federally Qualified Health Center.

Turner is a member of Grace United Methodist Church and worships regularly at Greater All Nations Tabernacle Church of God in Christ. She and her husband, Cecil, have three children, ten grandchildren and five great grandchildren.