Circuit Court to fill 10 associate judge vacancies; filing deadline is March 3

Press release issued today by the Office of Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans:

Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans today posted a notice of ten vacancies for the office of associate judge of the Cook County Circuit Court.

While circuit judges are elected by the public, associate judges are appointed by the circuit judges in a selection process conducted by the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts. Licensed attorneys submit applications for consideration and undergo evaluations by bar associations. A nominating committee, which includes the chief judge and the presiding judges of various court divisions and districts, then interviews the applicants and selects finalists.

Under Illinois Supreme Court Rule 39, the nominating committee must select twice as many qualified candidates as there are vacancies to be filled; in this case, the nominating committee will select 20 candidates from which the circuit judges will fill the 10 vacancies. Circuit judges then vote on candidates.

The associate judge positions are due to the retirements of Associate Judges John T. Carr, John L. Huff, and Elizabeth Loredo Rivera, the resignations of Associate Judges Timothy J. Chambers, Arthur F. Hill, Jr., Mark Joseph Lopez, and Thomas R. Mulroy, Jr., the appointment of Associate Judge Thomas More Donnelly to the office of circuit judge, and the authorized increase of two (2) associate judgeships for the Circuit Court of Cook County as a result of the 2020 Federal census-based associate judgeships pursuant to 705 ILCS 45/2.

Applications are now being accepted for these vacancies, as well as additional vacancies which may occur during the nomination process. The form and instructions for electronically submitting an application are available on the Supreme Court’s website here. If unable to electronically submit an application, an applicant must submit two (2) signed originals of the prescribed application to Marcia M. Meis, Director, Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts, 222 North LaSalle Street, 13th Floor, Chicago, Illinois 60601.

Note that the application for appointment to the office of associate judge was revised on September 17, 2019, and only applications on the revised form will be accepted.

Whether electronically filed, mailed, or hand delivered, all applications must be received in the Administrative Office within 30 days after the date of the notice. If filed electronically, the deadline is 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, March 3, 2022. If mailed or hand delivered, the deadline is 5 p.m. on that day. A form for application may be obtained from the AOIC or be downloaded from the Supreme Court's website https://illinoiscourts.gov and downloaded from the Judicial Vacancies link. Applications submitted via facsimile will not be accepted.

Applicants should be aware that their names will be released to the media to allow public comment on their candidacy and that a bar evaluation may also be requested.

A couple of notes: Pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 39(a)(1), the terms of all associate judges across the state will expire on June 30, 2023. So whenever this next class is selected, the members of the class will almost immediately have to worry about retention.

The most recent class of associate judges (in 2021) was chosen quite promptly: But last year's six-month turnaround is the exception, not the rule. It took a good 13 months (from the close of applications on August 31, 2018) to the November 5, 2019 announcement of the finalists for the class selected in December 2019. Applicants selected for the short list announced on April 18, 2018 were in an application pool that closed 14 months earlier, on February 8, 2017. It was at least 13 months between the formation of the applicant pool in 2015 and the announcement of the Short List from that group on March 18, 2016.