Courts in Illinois

More information on Illinois's state courts:

Selection methods
Elections
Salaries
Federal courts

In Illinois, there are three federal district courts, a state supreme court, an appellate court, and trial courts. These courts serve different purposes, which are outlined in the sections below.

Click a link for information about that court type.

* Federal courts
* State supreme court
* State appellate court

The image below depicts the flow of cases through Illinois's state court system. Cases typically originate in the trial courts and can be appealed to courts higher up in the system.

The structure of Illinois's state court system.

## Contents

* 1 Judicial selection process
* 2 Federal courts
* 2.1 Active judges
* 2.1.1 Northern district
* 2.1.2 Central district
* 2.1.3 Southern district
* 2.2 District map
* 2.3 Judicial selection
* 3 State supreme court
* 4 State court of appeals
* 5 First District
* 6 Second District
* 7 Third District
* 8 Fourth District
* 9 Fifth District
* 9.1 Trial courts
* 9.2 In other states
* 9.3 See also
* 9.4 External links
* 9.5 Footnotes

## Judicial selection process[edit]

See also: Illinois judicial elections

The seven justices of the Illinois Supreme Court and the 42 judges of the Illinois Appellate Court are selected in an identical manner. Judges are chosen by popular vote in partisan elections and serve 10-year terms, after which they must compete in uncontested, nonpartisan retention elections to remain on the court.[1]

The Illinois Circuit Court is the unified trial court in the state, divided into 23 judicial circuits. Circuit judges are elected in partisan elections to six-year terms. Upon the completion of these terms, judges that wish to remain on the court must compete in uncontested, nonpartisan retention elections.[1]

To read more about judicial elections in Illinois, click here.

## Federal courts[edit]

The federal district courts in Illinois are the:

* Central District of Illinois
* Northern District of Illinois
* Southern District of Illinois

Appeals go to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit.

### Active judges[edit]

#### Northern district[edit]

Judge | Appointed By | Assumed Office | Bachelors | Law

|
|
|
|

Charles Norgle

Ronald Reagan (R)

|  October 4, 1984 -  |

Northwestern University, 1964

University of Illinois-Chicago, John Marshall Law School, 1969

Rebecca Pallmeyer

Bill Clinton (D)

|  October 22, 1998 -  |

University of Valparaiso, 1976

University of Chicago Law School, 1979

Virginia Kendall

George W. Bush (R)

|  January 3, 2006 -  |

Northwestern University, 1984

Loyola University, Chicago, 1992

Robert Dow

George W. Bush (R)

|  December 5, 2007 -  |

Yale University, 1987

Harvard Law School, 1993

Gary Feinerman

Barack Obama (D)

|  June 29, 2010 -  |

Yale College, 1987

Stanford Law School, 1991

Sharon Coleman

Barack Obama (D)

|  July 13, 2010 -  |

Northern Illinois University, 1981

University of Washington School of Law, 1984

Edmond E. Chang

Barack Obama (D)

|  December 20, 2010 -  |

University of Michigan,E., 1991

Northwestern University School of Law, 1994

John Z. Lee

Barack Obama (D)

|  May 8, 2012 -  |

Harvard University, 1989

Harvard Law School, 1992

John Tharp Jr.

Barack Obama (D)

|  May 16, 2012 -  |

Duke University, 1982

Northwestern University Law, 1990

Thomas M. Durkin

Barack Obama (D)

|  December 19, 2012 -  |

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 1975

DePaul University Law, 1978

Sara Lee Ellis

Barack Obama (D)

|  October 8, 2013 -  |

Indiana University, 1991

Loyola University Law, Chicago, 1994

Andrea R. Wood

Barack Obama (D)

|  October 15, 2013 -  |

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 1986

University of Illinois Law, 1989

Manish Shah

Barack Obama (D)

|  May 1, 2014 -  |

Stanford University, 1994

University of Chicago Law School, 1998

John Robert Blakey

Barack Obama (D)

|  December 19, 2014 -  |

University of Notre Dame, 1988

University of Notre Dame, 1992

Jorge L. Alonso

Barack Obama (D)

|  December 19, 2014 -  |

University of Miami, 1988

George Washington University Law Center, 1991

Martha Pacold

Donald Trump (R)

|  August 19, 2019 -  |

Indiana University, 1999

University of Chicago Law School, 2002

Mary Rowland

Donald Trump (R)

|  August 20, 2019 -  |

University of Michigan, 1984

University of Chicago Law School, 1988

Steven Seeger

Donald Trump (R)

|  September 13, 2019 -  |

Wheaton College, 1993

University of Michigan Law School, 1997

John Kness

Donald Trump (R)

|  February 18, 2020 -  |

Northwestern University, 1991

Northwestern University, 2003

Franklin Ulyses Valderrama

Donald Trump (R)

|  September 23, 2020 -  |

University of Illinois, Chicago, 1985

DePaul University College of Law, 1988

Iain David Johnston

Donald Trump (R)

|  September 23, 2020 -  |

Rockford College, 1987

University of Illinois-Chicago, John Marshall Law School, 1990

The list below displays the number of active judges by the party of the appointing president. It does not reflect how a judge may rule on specific cases or their own political preferences.

* Democrat appointed: 12
* Republican appointed: 9

#### Central district[edit]

Judge | Appointed By | Assumed Office | Bachelors | Law

|
|
|
|

James E. Shadid

Barack Obama (D)

|  March 10, 2011 -  |

Bradley University, 1979

University of Illinois-Chicago, John Marshall Law School, 1983

Sue Myerscough

Barack Obama (D)

|  March 14, 2011 -  |

Southern Illinois University, 1973

Southern Illinois University Law School, 1980

Sara Lynn Darrow

Barack Obama (D)

|  August 3, 2011 -  |

Marquette University, 1992

Saint Louis University Law, 1997

Colin Stirling Bruce

Barack Obama (D)

|  October 8, 2013 -  |

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 1986

University of Illinois Law, 1989

The list below displays the number of active judges by the party of the appointing president. It does not reflect how a judge may rule on specific cases or their own political preferences.

* Democrat appointed: 4
* Republican appointed: 0

#### Southern district[edit]

Judge | Appointed By | Assumed Office | Bachelors | Law

|
|
|
|

Nancy J. Rosenstengel

Barack Obama (D)

|  May 12, 2014 -  |

University of Illinois, 1990

Southern Illinois University Law School, 1993

Staci Michelle Yandle

Barack Obama (D)

|  June 19, 2014 -  |

University of Illinois, 1983

Vanderbilt University Law School, 1987

Stephen Patrick McGlynn

Donald Trump (R)

|  September 18, 2020 -  |

University of Dayton, 1983

St. Louis University School of Law, 1987

David Wayne Dugan

Donald Trump (R)

|  September 23, 2020 -  |

Eastern Illinois University, 1982

Valparaiso University, 1985

The list below displays the number of active judges by the party of the appointing president. It does not reflect how a judge may rule on specific cases or their own political preferences.

* Democrat appointed: 2
* Republican appointed: 2

### District map[edit]

### Judicial selection[edit]

Judges who sit on the federal district courts are nominated by the president of the United States and confirmed by the United States Senate. These judges serve life terms. To read more about the judges on these courts, click here.

## State supreme court[edit]

See also: Illinois Supreme Court

The Supreme Court is the court of last resort in the state of Illinois. There are seven justices serving five districts, elected to 10-year terms. The Supreme Court has general administrative and supervisory authority over all courts in the state. The court hears appeals from lower courts and may exercise original jurisdiction in cases relating to revenue, mandamus, prohibition, or habeas corpus.[1][2]

The following judges currently sit on the court:

Judge | Appointed By

|

Mary Jane Theis

Elected

Anne M. Burke

Elected

P. Scott Neville

Illinois Supreme Court

David K. Overstreet

Elected

Michael J. Burke

Illinois Supreme Court

Rita Garman

Illinois Supreme Court

Robert L. Carter

Illinois Supreme Court

## State court of appeals[edit]

See also: Illinois Appellate Court

Illinois Appellate Court

The Illinois Appellate Court is the intermediate appellate court in the state. There are five appellate districts and judges are elected to 10-year terms. The court hears appeals from the circuit courts, except for cases explicitly appealed to the state supreme court. The appellate court's rulings can be appealed to the Illinois Supreme Court.[1][3][4]

The following judges currently sit on the court:

# First District[edit]

Judge | Tenure | Appointed By

|
|

Joy Cunningham

December 4, 2006 - Present

Elected

Eileen O'Neill Burke

2016 - Present

Elected

Carl A. Walker

June 15, 2018 - Present

Elected

Michael Hyman

January 8, 2013 - Present

Illinois Supreme Court

Cynthia Cobbs

September 22, 2011 - Present

Illinois Supreme Court

Aurelia Marie Pucinski

2010 - Present

Elected

Bertina E. Lampkin

2009 - Present

Elected

Daniel James Pierce

2012 - Present

Elected

Thomas Hoffman

1993 - Present

Elected

Jesse G. Reyes

November 6, 2012 - Present

Elected

Terrence J. Lavin

February 1, 2010 - Present

Elected

David Ellis

December 1, 2014 - Present

Elected

James Fitzgerald Smith

November 5, 2002 - Present

Elected

Mary Katherine Rochford

2010 - Present

Elected

Mathias W. Delort

November 6, 2012 - Present

Elected

Sharon Oden-Johnson

December 7, 2020 - Present

Elected

Mary Ellen Coghlan

July 30, 2019 - Present

Illinois Supreme Court

Nathaniel R. Howse

August 10, 2009 - Present

Elected

Robert E. Gordon

December 7, 2020 - Present

Illinois Supreme Court

LeRoy K. Martin, Jr.

January 4, 2021 - Present

Illinois Supreme Court

Mary L. Mikva

2016 - Present

Illinois Supreme Court

Margaret Stanton McBride

1998 - Present

Elected

Maureen Connors

2010 - Present

Elected

Sheldon Harris

2010 - Present

Illinois Supreme Court

# Second District[edit]

Judge | Tenure | Appointed By

|
|

Joseph Birkett

2010 - Present

Elected

Liam C. Brennan

March 2, 2020 - Present

Elected

Susan Hutchinson

December 5, 1994 - Present

Elected

Donald Hudson

2009 - Present

Elected

Robert McLaren

December 5, 1988 - Present

Elected

Kathryn Zenoff

2007 - Present

Elected

Ann B. Jorgensen

2008 - Present

Elected

Mary Seminara-Schostok

2008 - Present

Elected

George Bridges

September 16, 2019 - Present

Illinois Supreme Court

# Third District[edit]

Judge | Tenure | Appointed By

|
|

Vicki Wright

December 4, 2006 - Present

Elected

Tom Lytton

December 7, 1992 - Present

Elected

Daniel Schmidt

2002 - Present

Elected

William Holdridge

December 5, 1994 - Present

Elected

Mary O'Brien

December 26, 2003 - Present

Elected

Mary McDade

December 4, 2000 - Present

Elected

Eugene P. Daugherity

December 8, 2020 - Present

Illinois Supreme Court

# Fourth District[edit]

Judge | Tenure | Appointed By

|
|

Lisa Holder White

January 14, 2013 - Present

Illinois Supreme Court

Robert Steigmann

1989 - Present

Elected

Thomas M. Harris

2013 - Present

Elected

John W. Turner

2001 - Present

Elected

Craig H. DeArmond

2017 - Present

Elected

Peter C. Cavanagh

2018 - Present

Elected

James Knecht

December 1, 1986 - Present

Elected

# Fifth District[edit]

Judge | Tenure | Appointed By

|
|

Barry L. Vaughan

January 4, 2021 - Present

Illinois Supreme Court

Mark M. Boie

May 1, 2019 - Present

Illinois Supreme Court

Judy Cates

November 6, 2012 - Present

Elected

James R. Moore

January 2, 2015 - Present

Illinois Supreme Court

John B. Barberis Jr.

2016 - Present

Elected

Thomas Welch

1980 - Present

Elected

Milton S. Wharton

December 7, 2020 - Present

Illinois Supreme Court

## Trial courts[edit]

See also: Illinois Circuit Court

Illinois Circuit Court

The circuit courts are the unified trial court system in Illinois and hold original jurisdiction. The circuit courts are divided into 24 judicial districts. Six are single-county circuits and the remaining 18 circuits are multi-county districts. The court shares jurisdiction with the state supreme court to hear cases about habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, and revenue. The circuit courts also conduct reviews of certain state agency administrative orders.[5][6]

Circuit judges are elected to a six-year term and may run for retention for additional six-year terms. Judges are originally elected from within their judicial circuit, from their county of residence, or from a sub-circuit within the judicial circuit, depending on the relevant court vacancy. Associate judges are appointed by circuit judges in the relevant circuit. Circuit judges elect one of their members to serve as the chief judge of the court. Chief judges have general administrative authority in the judicial circuit and can assign cases to general or specialized divisions in the circuit. The chief judge is subject to the administrative authority of the Illinois Supreme Court.[5]

## In other states[edit]

Click the map below to explore the court structure in other states.

Choose your state...AlabamaAlaskaArizonaArkansasCaliforniaColoradoConnecticutDelawareFloridaGeorgiaHawaiiIdahoIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMaineMarylandMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaMississippiMissouriMontanaNebraskaNevadaNew HampshireNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOhioOklahomaOregonPennsylvaniaRhode IslandSouth CarolinaSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasUtahVermontVirginiaWashingtonWashington, D.C.West VirginiaWisconsinWyoming

http://ballotpedia.org/Courts_in_STATE

## See also[edit]

* Judicial selection in Illinois
* Illinois judicial elections

## External links[edit]

* Search Google News for this topic
* Illinois Supreme Court
* Illinois Appellate Court

## Footnotes[edit]

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Illinois Courts, "About the courts in Illinois," accessed March 3, 2021
2. ↑ Illinois General Assembly; Courts: (705 ILCS 25/) Appellate Court Act
3. ↑ Illinois courts, "Illinois Appellate Court General Information," accessed March 3, 2021
4. ↑ Nineteenth Judicial Circuit Court, "History of the Illinois Courts," archived August 16, 2014
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Illinois courts, "Illinois Circuit Court General Information," accessed March 3, 2021
6. ↑ Illinois Courts, "Illinois Circuit Court General Information"

Illinois courts

* * *

Federal courts:

Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Central District of Illinois, Northern District of Illinois, Southern District of Illinois • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Central District of Illinois, Northern District of Illinois, Southern District of Illinois

State courts:

Illinois Supreme Court • Illinois Appellate Court • Illinois Circuit Court

State resources:

Courts in Illinois • Illinois judicial elections • Judicial selection in Illinois

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