I did not see this coming: New round of applications opens for Cook County associate judge

Most of the 22 members of the newest class of Cook County associate judges are still getting oriented to their new responsibilities, but the Circuit Court of Cook County has already posted a new vacancy.

It is at least unusual, and certainly unprecedented in the course of my career, for Cook County vacancies to be posted one at a time, but these are unusual times: Starting June 1, associate judge vacancies will be automatically converted and assigned to subcircuit vacancies in the newly created 16th through 20th subcircuits. If more than 10 such vacancies occur before the end of this election cycle, there may be a new class posted then because only 10 such vacancies can be allocated during any given election cycle. (Details in this post.)

Meanwhile, however, because of the passing of Associate Judge Lana Charisse Johnson on February 20, just after the last short list was announced, there is a vacancy that the Circuit Court can fill now. Any additional vacancies occurring between now and May 31 will be filled in this newest class as well. I will not specultate as to whether some judges (who may have been considering retirement) are being encouraged to put in their papers sooner rather than later, but I would not be surprised if such encouragements are reported.

Meanwhile, applications are available on the Supreme Court website. The deadline to return electronically-submitted applications is 11:59 p.m. on Friday, May 12. If mailed or hand delivered (to the Chicago office of the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts, at 222 N. LaSalle Street, 13th Floor), the deadline is 5:00 p.m. that same day.

The Circuit Court Nominating Committee just interviewed a large number of associate judge hopefuls. The court may dispense with interviews for those it has recently seen: The Circuit Court's announcement of the new vacancy states, "Applicants for this position may also be required to make themselves available for an interview" with the court's Nominating Committee. The use of the word "may" in this context is telling.

The names of all applicants for this post will be made public. FWIW will post these when they are available.