The Supreme Court of Illinois is the state supreme court, the highest court of the State of

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

. The court's authority is granted in Article VI of the current

Illinois Constitution The Constitution of the State of Illinois is the governing document of the state of Illinois. There have been four Illinois Constitutions; the fourth and current version was adopted in 1970. The current constitution is referred to as the "Constit ...

, which provides for seven justices elected from the five appellate judicial districts of the state: three justices from the First District ( Cook County) and one from each of the other four districts. Each justice is elected for a term of ten years and the chief justice is elected by the court from its members for a three-year term.

Jurisdiction

The court has limited

original jurisdiction In common law legal systems original jurisdiction of a court is the power to hear a case for the first time, as opposed to appellate jurisdiction, when a higher court has the power to review a lower court's decision. India In India, the Su ...

and has final

appellate jurisdiction A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much ...

. It has jurisdiction in cases where the

constitutionality Constitutionality is said to be the condition of acting in accordance with an applicable constitution; "Webster On Line" the status of a law, a procedure, or an act's accordance with the laws or set forth in the applicable constitution. When l ...

of laws has been called into question, and

discretionary jurisdiction Discretionary jurisdiction is a circumstance where a court has the power to decide whether to hear a particular case brought before it. Most courts have no such power, and must entertain any case properly filed, so long as the court has subject ma ...

from the Illinois Appellate Court. Until 2011, when Illinois abolished the death penalty, it had mandatory jurisdiction in

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used fo ...

cases. Along with the state legislature, the court promulgates rules for all state courts. Also, its members have the authority to elevate trial judges to the appellate court on a temporary basis. The court administers professional discipline through the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Committee and it governs initial licensing through the Illinois Board of Admissions to the Bar. The official

reporter A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

of the Illinois Supreme Court is '' Illinois Reports''.

Districts

The Illinois Supreme Court is separated into 5 districts, with one Justice elected from each except the 1st, which elects three Justices. The districts are separated along county lines. These districts were first established in 1963 and had not been updated in nearly sixty years, despite the Illinois Constitution's requirement that the four districts outside the 1st District (Cook County) have "substantially equal population". As of 2018 Census estimates, the populations of the old districts before the 2021 redistricting were: 1st District: 5,194,000; 2nd District: 3,189,000; 3rd District: 1,805,000; 4th District 1,320,000; 5th District: 1,321,000. In comparison, the 2020 Census reports the populations of the current districts as: 1st District: 5,275,541; 2nd District: 1,773,382; 3rd District: 1,959,246; 4th District 2,086,825; 5th District: 1,717,514. The state legislature redrew districts in 2021 to take effect in the 2022 elections, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed these changes into law. Below are the counties per district based on the 2021 redistricting. Only the first district has remained entirely the same.

1st district

Cook Cook or The Cook may refer to: Food preparation * Cooking, the preparation of food * Cook (domestic worker), a household staff member who prepares food * Cook (professional), an individual who prepares food for consumption in the food industry * ...

2nd district

* DeKalb * Kane * Kendall *

Lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

* McHenry

3rd district

* Bureau * DuPage * Grundy *

Iroquois The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian Peoples, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Indigenous confederations in North America, confederacy of First Nations in Canada, First Natio ...

* Kankakee * LaSalle * Will

4th district

* Adams * Boone *

Brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model ...

* Calhoun * Carroll * Cass * Ford * Fulton * Greene * Hancock *

Henderson Henderson may refer to: People * Henderson (surname), description of the surname, and a list of people with the surname *Clan Henderson, a Scottish clan Places Argentina *Henderson, Buenos Aires Australia *Henderson, Western Australia Canada * ...

* Henry *

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label= Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west France. It is the ...

* Jo Daviess * Knox *

Lee Lee may refer to: Name Given name * Lee (given name), a given name in English Surname * Chinese surnames romanized as Li or Lee: ** Li (surname 李) or Lee (Hanzi ), a common Chinese surname ** Li (surname 利) or Lee (Hanzi ), a Chinese ...

Livingston Livingston may refer to: Businesses * Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010) * Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline * Livingston International, a North American customs ...

Logan Logan may refer to: Places * Mount Logan (disambiguation) Australia * Logan (Queensland electoral district), an electoral district in the Queensland Legislative Assembly * Logan, Victoria, small locality near St. Arnaud * Logan City, local gov ...

* Macoupin * Marshall * Mason * McDonough * McLean * Menard * Mercer *

Morgan Morgan may refer to: People and fictional characters * Morgan (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Morgan le Fay, a powerful witch in Arthurian legend * Morgan (surname), a surname of Welsh origin * Morgan (singer ...

* Ogle * Peoria * Piatt * Pike * Putnam * Rock Island * Sangamon * Schuyler *

Scott Scott may refer to: Places Canada * Scott, Quebec, municipality in the Nouvelle-Beauce regional municipality in Quebec * Scott, Saskatchewan, a town in the Rural Municipality of Tramping Lake No. 380 * Rural Municipality of Scott No. 98, Sask ...

* Stark *

Stephenson Stephenson is a medieval patronymic surname meaning "son of Stephen". The earliest public record is found in the county of Huntingdonshire in 1279. There are variant spellings including Stevenson. People with the surname include: * Ashley Steph ...

* Tazewell *

Vermilion Vermilion (sometimes vermillion) is a color, color family, and pigment most often made, since antiquity until the 19th century, from the powdered mineral cinnabar (a form of mercury sulfide, which is toxic) and its corresponding color. It i ...

* Warren * Winnebago * Whiteside * Woodford

5th district

* Alexander *

Bond Bond or bonds may refer to: Common meanings * Bond (finance), a type of debt security * Bail bond, a commercial third-party guarantor of surety bonds in the United States * Chemical bond, the attraction of atoms, ions or molecules to form chemical ...

* Champaign *

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

Clark Clark is an English language surname, ultimately derived from the Latin language, Latin with historical links to England, Scotland, and Ireland ''clericus'' meaning "scribe", "secretary" or a scholar within a religious order, referring to someone ...

Clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay pa ...

* Clinton * Coles * Crawford *

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic counties of England, historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th c ...

* DeWitt *

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals *Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking * Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil ...

Edgar Edgar is a commonly used English given name, from an Anglo-Saxon name ''Eadgar'' (composed of '' ead'' "rich, prosperous" and '' gar'' "spear"). Like most Anglo-Saxon names, it fell out of use by the later medieval period; it was, however, r ...

Edwards Edwards may refer to: People * Edwards (surname) * Edwards family, a prominent family from Chile * Edwards Barham (1937-2014), a former member of the Louisiana State Senate * Edwards Pierrepont (1817–1892), an American attorney, jurist, and or ...

* Effingham * Fayette * Franklin * Gallatin *

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilto ...

* Hardin * Jackson *

Jasper Jasper, an aggregate of microgranular quartz and/or cryptocrystalline chalcedony and other mineral phases,Kostov, R. I. 2010. Review on the mineralogical systematics of jasper and related rocks. – Archaeometry Workshop, 7, 3, 209-213PDF/ref ...

* Jefferson *

Johnson Johnson is a surname of Anglo-Norman origin meaning "Son of John". It is the second most common in the United States and 154th most common in the world. As a common family name in Scotland, Johnson is occasionally a variation of ''Johnston'', a ...

* Lawrence * Macon *

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

* Marion * Massac * Monroe * Montgomery * Moultrie * Perry *

Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

* Pulaski * Randolph * Richland * Saline * Shelby * St. Clair * Union * Wabash *

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

* Wayne *

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

* Williamson

Qualifications and elections

Justices are required to be U.S. citizens, members of the state bar, and resident in the district from which they are elected or appointed. Justices run in a general election for a 10-year term. At the end of the initial term, they may run in a non-partisan retention election where they must receive 60% of the vote to be retained for continuing terms of ten-years. When a vacancy occurs mid-term, the Supreme Court itself appoints a new justice. The appointed justice must run in the next partisan election (including primaries) that is more than 60 days from their appointment for a 10-year term to hold the seat. The court elects the chief justice from among its members for a three-year term.

Justices

While the justices of many states' supreme courts are expected to relocate to the state capital for the duration of their terms of office, the justices of the Illinois Supreme Court continue to reside in their home constituencies and have chambers in their respective appellate districts (for example, the three First District justices are chambered in the Michael Bilandic Building in Chicago). The justices travel to Springfield to hear oral arguments and deliberate. Accordingly, the Illinois Supreme courthouse building includes apartments for the justices' use while in Springfield.

Current justices

Previous justices

2000–present

* Thomas R. Fitzgerald (2000–2010) * Philip J. Rarick (2002–2004) * Robert R. Thomas (2000–2020) * Thomas L. Kilbride (2000–2020) * Rita Garman (2001–2022) * Anne M. Burke (2006–2022) * Michael J. Burke (2020–2022) *

Robert L. Carter Robert Lee Carter (March 11, 1917 – January 3, 2012) was an American lawyer, civil rights activist and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Personal history and early life ...

(2020–2022)

1900–1999

* Charles E. Freeman (1990–2018) * S. Louis Rathje (1999–2000) * Michael Anthony Bilandic (1994–1997) * Mary Ann McMorrow (1992–2006) * Moses Harrison (1992–2002) * John L. Nickels (1992–1998) * Benjamin K. Miller (1984–2001) * Joseph F. Cunningham (1991–1992) * James D. Heiple (1990–2000) * Horace L. Calvo (1988–1991) * John J. Stamos (1988–1990) * Joseph F. Cunningham (1987–1988) * Seymour Simon (1980–1988) * Thomas E. Kluczynski (1978–1980) * William G. Clark (1976–1992) * Caswell J. Crebs (1975–1976) * Thomas J. Moran (1976–1992) * James A. Dooley (1976–1978) * Howard C. Ryan (1970–1990) * Joseph H. Goldenhersh (1970–1987) * Charles H. Davis (2nd time, 1970–1975) * Marvin Burt (1969–1970) * Caswell J. Crebs (1969–1970) * John T. Culbertson Jr. (1969–1970) * Thomas E. Kluczynski (1966–1976) * Daniel P. Ward (1966–1990) * Robert C. Underwood (1962–1984) * Roy Solfisburg (1962–1963) * Byron O. House (1957–1969) * Charles H. Davis (1st time, 1955–1960) * Ray Klingbiel (1953–1969) * Walter V. Schaefer (1951–1976) * Harry B. Hershey (1951–1966) * George W. Bristow (1951–1961) * Ralph L. Maxwell (1951–1956) * Albert M. Crampton (1948–1953) * Joseph E. Daily (1948–1965) * Jesse L. Simpson (1947–1951) * Charles H. Thompson (1942–1950) * William J. Fulton (1942–1954) * June C. Smith (1941–1947) * Loren E. Murphy (1939–1948) * Walter T. Gunn (1938–1951) * Francis S. Wilson (1935–1951) * Elwyn Riley Shaw (1933–1942) * Lott R. Herrick (1933–1937) * Paul Farthing (1933–1942) * Norman L. Jones (1931–1940) * Warren H. Orr (1930–1939) * Paul Samuell (1929–1930) * Cyrus E. Dietz (1928–1929) * Oscar E. Heard (1927–1928) * Frank K. Dunn (1907–1933) * Frederic R. DeYoung (1924–1934) * Oscar E. Heard (1924–1933) * Floyd E. Thompson (1919–1928) * Clyde E. Stone (1918–1948) * Warren W. Duncan (1915–1933) * Albert Watson (1915–1915) * Charles C. Craig (1913–1918) * George A. Cooke (1909–1919) * Frank K. Dunn (1907–1933) * Orrin N. Carter (1906–1924) * Alonzo K. Vickers (1906–1915) * William M. Farmer (1906–1931) * Guy C. Scott (1903–1909) * James B. Ricks (1901–1906) * John P. Hand (1900–1913)

1818–1899

* Carroll C. Boggs (1897–1906) * Joseph N. Carter (1894–1903) * James H. Cartwright (1895–1924) * Jesse J. Phillips (1893–1901) * Joseph M. Bailey (1888–1895) * Jacob W. Wilkin (1888–1907) * Benjamin D. Magruder (1885–1906) * Simeon P. Shope (1885–1894) * Damon G. Tunnicliff (1885–1885) * David J. Baker Jr. (1888–1897) * John H. Mulkey (1879–1888) * David J. Baker Jr. (1878–1879) * T. Lyle Dickey (1875–1885) * Alfred M. Craig (1873–1900) * John Scholfield (1873–1893) * William K. McAllister (1870–1875) * Benjamin R. Sheldon (1870–1888) * John M. Scott (1870–1888) * Anthony Thornton (1870–1873) * Charles B. Lawrence (1864–1873) * Corydon Beckwith (1864–1864) * Pinkney H. Walker (1858–1888) * Sidney Breese (1857–1878) * Onias C. Skinner (1855–1858) * Walter B. Scates (1853–1857) *

Lyman Trumbull Lyman Trumbull (October 12, 1813 – June 25, 1896) was a lawyer, judge, and United States Senator from Illinois and the co-author of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Born in Colchester, Connecticut, Trumbull es ...

(1848–1853) * David M. Woodson (1848–1848) * Jesse B. Thomas Jr. (1847–1848) *

William A. Denning William A. Denning (1817 – September 4, 1856) was an American jurist and politician. Born in Kentucky, Denning moved to Frankfort, Illinois to practiced law. He then moved to Benton, Illinois when the county seat for Franklin County, Il ...

(1847–1848) * Norman H. Purple (1845–1848) * Gustavus P. Koerner (1845–1848) * James Shields (1843–1845) * Jesse B. Thomas Jr. (1843–1845) * John D. Caton (1843–1864) * John McCracken Robinson, John M. Robinson (1843–1843) * Richard M. Young (1843–1847) * James Semple (1843–1843) * John D. Caton, John Dean Caton (1842–1843) * Stephen A. Douglas (1841–1843) * Samuel Hubbel Treat Jr., Samuel H. Treat (1841–1855) * Walter B. Scates (1841–1847) * Sidney Breese (1841–1843) * Thomas Ford (politician), Thomas Ford (1841–1842) * Theophilus W. Smith (1825–1842) * Samuel D. Lockwood (1825–1848) * Thomas Reynolds (governor), Thomas Reynolds (1822–1825) * William Wilson (Illinois jurist), William Wilson (1819–1848) * Joseph Phillips (judge), Joseph Phillips (1818–1822) * Thomas C. Browne (1818–1848) * William P. Foster (jurist), William P. Foster (1818–1819) * John Reynolds (Illinois politician), John Reynolds (1818–1825)

References

Bibliography

List of Supreme Court Justices
from Supreme Court's website * * * * * * *

External links

Illinois Supreme Court website

A Chronicle of the Illinois Supreme Court

Illinois State Judiciary

Chief Justices of the Illinois Supreme Court

Illinois Supreme Court Historic Preservation Commission
{{authority control Springfield, Illinois Supreme Court of Illinois, 1818 establishments in Illinois Territory Courts and tribunals established in 1818