A Cook County judge agreed with a hearing officer’s ruling that proof of mens rea wasn’t required when Michelle Williams was charged with violating the Village of Riverdale’s animal nuisance ordinance. Williams’ appeal argued the hearing officer’s decision was unjustified because there was no evidence she had a culpable mental state. But the 1st District — disagreeing with a 1982 opinion from the 4th District — affirmed. The judgment wasn’t against the manifest weight of the evidence because the “animal nuisance ordinance …