Cook County Judicial wannabes: It's already 2026

Happy New Year! Gosh, 2025 was short, wasn't it?

Alright, actually, the calendar still says 2025 and you haven't done a Rip Van Winkle. But if you are thinking about running for judge in Cook County in 2026 -- and I know many FWIW readers are thinking quite a bit about that -- the Alliance of Bar Associations for Judicial Screening wants you to be thinking also about getting your evaluations in order for the forthcoming election cycle.

Specifically: Members of the Alliance of Bar Associations for Judicial Screening will begin accepting completed questionnaires, effective immediately, from candidates who will be seeking vacancies (actual or potential) in the 2026 Cook County primary election. If you are thinking instead about filing for associate judge, this would be a good opportunity for you to submit your credentials as well.

Joyce Williams, the Alliance Administrator, told FWIW in a statement, "We are hoping to evaluate as many individuals as possible at this time to ensure potential candidates will be able to better utilize their ratings."

You may request the Alliance’s questionnaire via the following:

• Candidates seeking appointment or election to a judicial vacancy, but who are not currently serving in the jduciary, please request the Application for Non-Sitting Judge Questionnaire


• Cook County judges seeking retention, appellate, or supreme court vacancy, please request the Application for Sitting Judge Questionnaire

(The links will take you to the ISBA website. The questionnaires will be provided when you have completed the proper form.)

And for those of you who are not thinking about running for judge in 2026, please consider volunteering for the Judicial Evaluation Committees of any Alliance group you may belong to. In fact, consider joining one or more Alliance groups that you haven't already joined and then volunteer for JEC service.

You don't want to volunteer for JEC service if you may run for a vacancy in 2026, because the Alliance groups (and the Chicago Bar Association, for that matter) will automatically give a negative rating to any JEC member who runs. On the other hand, if you are thinking in terms of 2028 or 2030 or beyond, JEC service now will only help prepare you for your own eventual run. If you browse through the archives here, you will see that a great many of our sitting judges today had JEC service, sometimes quite extensive JEC service, in their backgrounds.

Different Alliance groups have differing procedures about how to join their JECs, so visit the website of the Alliance groups for which you wish to volunteer.