Geary W. Kull named Acting Presiding Judge of 4th Municipal District

The elevation of Judge Ramon Ocasio III to the Appellate Court created an opening for Presiding Judge in the 4th Municipal District.

Yesterday evening, Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans announced that the vacancy has been filled. Here's the press release:

The Hon. Geary W. Kull has been named Acting Presiding Judge of the Fourth Municipal District of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans said.

Judge Kull has been a judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County since 2009, and has served in the Fourth Municipal District, located in Maywood, since 2011. He was first appointed to the bench by the Illinois Supreme Court, and won election to the 9th Subcircuit in 2010.

In the Fourth Municipal District, Judge Kull handled misdemeanors from 2011 to 2013, and has since presided over a busy felony trial courtroom. He has disposed of more than 40 murder cases, along with handling multiple other felony cases.

Prior to joining the bench, Judge Kull maintained a private criminal defense practice between October 1981 and 2009. He served as an assistant public defender for Cook County between 1975 and 1981, including as a member of the Murder Task Force between 1979 and 1981. Before going to the Public Defender’s Office, Judge Kull served for three years as a case worker for the Cook County Department of Public Aid.

Judge Kull is a graduate of John Marshall Law School (now the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law), and has a bachelor of science degree from the University of Arizona. He replaces the Hon. Ramon Ocasio III, who was appointed a justice with the First District Appellate Court.

“Judge Kull has had many years of experience as a judge, mainly for criminal matters, and is known as a hard worker who handles a heavy call,” said Judge Evans. “I am sure that the Fourth Municipal District will benefit from his leadership and knowledge.”

“I am of course honored and humbled by the confidence shown by Chief Judge Evans,” Judge Kull said. “I am further cognizant of the tradition established by a long list of predecessors: men and women whom I have known as friends and mentors.” Judge Kull named former Fourth Municipal District Presiding Judges Ocasio, Cheyrl D. Ingram, Edmund Ponce de Leon, Themis Karnezis, Stuart A. Nudelman, and Frank W. Barbaro.

Judge Kull added that he is “excited to oversee a group of young, talented, passionate judges who ‘bring it’ every day. We look forward to building upon the work of all of our predecessors to ensure that the Fourth Municipal District is a vibrant, progressive arm of the largest unified court system in the country.”

Besides his work in the Fourth Municipal District, Judge Kull is also a frequent substitute professor for trial advocacy classes at both the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law and Chicago-Kent College of Law.