Justice Tailor announces application process for two countywide, two subcircuit vacancies

Updated 9/2/26, with new information

Remember when I mentioned that Justice Tailor had announced a committee to assist with screening candidates for temporary appointments to judicial vacancies? Well, it appears the committee is about to be activated. Here's the press release from the Supreme Court:

Supreme Court Justice Sanjay T. Tailor has begun an application process for four judicial vacancies – two at-large vacancies and two subcircuit vacancies – in Cook County.

The at-large vacancies are for the seats of Judge Diana Rosario (vacant as of June 1, 2026) and Judge Shelley Sutker-Dermer (vacant effective December 7, 2026), and the subcircuit vacancies are for the seats of Judge Sybil Thomas (19th Subcircuit, vacant as of January 31, 2026) and Judge Pamela Loza (12th Subcircuit, vacant effective September 18, 2026).

Under the Illinois Constitution, judicial vacancies are filled on an interim basis by Supreme Court appointment. Justice Tailor will make recommendations to the Supreme Court after applicants for the position undergo a screening and evaluation process.

The application form and instructions may be obtained by visiting the Illinois Supreme Court’s website at www.illinoiscourts.gov and following the instructions in the latest news scroller announcing the Cook County vacancies.

Applications must be filed electronically and the deadline for submission is 5 p.m. on September 10, 2026.

The persons appointed to fill the vacancies will serve until the first Monday in December following the November 2028 election.

To be eligible for consideration for appointment, the applicant must be a lawyer in good standing, licensed to practice law in Illinois, and a resident of the county or subcircuit at the time of appointment.

To be honest, I'm a little surprised that the 19th Subcircuit 'vacancy' is included in this list. As the press release notes, this judgeship was created by the retirement of Associate Judge Sybil C. Thomas and it was assigned to the 19th Subcircuit by operation of the Judicial Circuits Districting Act of 2022. It is a position that has sprung into existence through legislative legerdemain; it would be filled, under the statute, in the forthcoming 2028 general election, but since it has not existed heretofore -- that is, it has never been filled -- how can it now be considered "vacant"?

Update: I asked the Supreme Court Communications Office to explain the Court's thinking on this. James Brunner, the Court's Public Information Officer, responded, in an email, "The retirement of the associate judge created the vacancy. It was then converted to a circuit judgeship, pursuant to statute. The Supreme Court will now be filling this vacancy by appointment until 2028, when it will be filled by election. The overall judicial head count remains the same."

Even without counting on my fingers, I could figure out that the judicial head count will not be increased by this temporary appointment. However, but for the Judicial Circuits Districting Act of 2022, Judge Thomas's vacancy would have been filled by the appointment of a new associate judge. Pursuant to the Act, that associate judgeship has ceased to exist. A new judgeship is being created. But how is there a vacancy in an office that has never had an occupant?

I'm not sure that Mr. Brunner's response answers that question. But, given that this is the Court's thinking on the matter, as I said in the original post, no eligible 19th Subcircuit resident with judicial ambitions should let this statutory conundrum (that apparently bothers only me) deter their filing an application for this position.