Justice Neville announces procedure he will follow in filling Cook County judicial vacancies

The Illinois Constitution gives the Illinois Supreme Court the power to fill Circuit Court and Appellate Court vacancies as they occur. Three of the Supreme Court's justices are elected from Cook County (the First Judicial District). As a practical matter, the Cook County justices take turns filling vacancies as they come open. While I suppose it could happen that his or her colleagues might veto a particular choice, as a practical matter, when a justice proposes someone for a vacancy, that person gets a robe.

There are no specific rules governing how a justice may fill a vacancy. No justice needs to publicly explain why he or she appointed Lawyer A instead of Lawyer B, and no justice ever will. However, in recent years, however, Supreme Court justices have announced individual application processes, including screening committees, some more public than others. Now that he has been elected to a full term, Illinois Supreme Court Justice P. Scott Neville, Jr. has today announced the procedures he will follow. I quote verbatim from the press release (emphasis in original):

To be eligible for consideration for appointment to the circuit court, the candidate must be a lawyer in good standing, licensed to practice law in Illinois for 12 years, and a resident of Cook County.

To be eligible for consideration for appointment to the First District Appellate Court, the candidate must be a lawyer in good standing, licensed to practice law in Illinois for 15 years, and a resident of Cook County.

Under the Illinois Constitution, judicial vacancies are filled on an interim basis by Supreme Court appointment. See Ill. Const. Art. VI, § 12(c). Justice Neville will make a recommendation to the Supreme Court to fill a vacancy (1) after the candidate has undergone a screening and evaluation by the Alliance of Bar Associations, and (2) after Justice Neville has considered the findings made by the Cook County Circuit Court’s Screening Committee. If there are several outstanding candidates for a vacancy, Justice Neville may have his own committee review the findings and recommendations made by the Alliance of Bar Associations and the Cook County Circuit Court’s Screening Committee, and they will make a recommendation to Justice Neville.

All candidates for judgeships must have an evaluation from each bar association in the Alliance and the evaluation must have been issued by the Alliance within the last six years in order to be considered for a vacancy. If the candidate does not have an evaluation from each member of the Alliance within the last six years, the candidate should file an application and go through the Associate Judge application process. Finally, if there has been a change in a candidate’s status during the six years, e.g.,a move to another firm, a promotion to partner, or a contempt finding, conviction, suspension or disbarment, the candidate’s application must be supplemented and the information must be sent to the Alliance.

An application for Associate Judge may be obtained from the Director of the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts (AOIC) on the form prescribed and furnished by the Director. The form and instructions for electronically submitting an application are available on the Supreme Court’s website by clicking here. If the candidate is unable to electronically submit an application, the candidate must submit two (2) signed originals of the prescribed application to the Director of the AOIC at the address listed below:

Marcia M. Meis, Director
Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts
222 North LaSalle Street, 13th Floor
Chicago, Illinois 60601

As FWIW readers already know, an associate judge selection process is now underway in Cook County. The deadline for applications is February 3. For more information about the current process, see these prior posts:

• Eleven associate judge vacancies to be filled in Cook County... at least at this point;


• Thinking about submitting an application for associate judge? or


• Update: How long do Alliance ratings last?