Judge Raul Vega named Acting Presiding Judge of Domestic Violence Division

Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans announced yesterday that Judge Raul Vega will become Acting Presiding Judge of the Domestic Violence Division of the Cook County on Circuit Court on September 4.

The current Presiding Judge, Sebastian T. Patti, is leaving the Circuit Court to take up a post as an immigration judge in Los Angeles, according to a press release issued yesterday by Judge Evans's office. (Judge Patti's departure will leave a countywide vacancy to be filled at the 2020 election.)

Judge Vega was elected a circuit judge in 2002; he was most recently retained in 2014.

Vega has served in the Domestic Relations Division since June 2003. He has heard just about every type of domestic relations matter, such as divorces, child-custody disputes and requests for orders of protection, according to Judge Evans's press release.

A 1982 graduate of Loyola Law School, Vega worked as a general practitioner in Chicago, handling civil litigation, including election, real estate, family, bankruptcy, federal taxation, criminal, probate and appellate matters, according to Judge Evans's office. Judge Vega did appear before Democratic slatemakers in 2015, when he was named a second alternate for an Appellate Court vacancy that never opened.

As Presiding Judge, Vega will oversee the judges, administrative support staff and all court operations in the courthouse at 555 W. Harrison St.