Judith Rice (born July 30, 1957) is an American politician who served as Chicago City Treasurer from 2000 to 2006 and has served as a judge on the Circuit Court of Cook County 7th sub-circuit since 2014.

Early life

Rice was born July 30, 1957, in Chicago, Illinois, to Fred Rice Jr. and Thelma Rice. She is the granddaughter of sharecroppers. Rice's father was a Chicago police officer, and would, in 1983, become Chicago's first black head of police. Rice attended Avalon Park Elementary School and Mercy High School. In high school, she was a drama club member, and was the lead in her high school production of Hello, Dolly! Rice graduated high school in 1975, and attended Northern Illinois University from 1975 to 1976, transferring in 1977 to

Loyola University Chicago Loyola University Chicago (Loyola or LUC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1870 by the Society of Jesus, Loyola is one of the largest Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Cathol ...

, where she graduated

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

with a Bachelor of Arts in communications in 1981. In 1984, Rice began attending Chicago's John Marshall Law School, earning her

juris doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

in 1988 and being admitted to Illinois State Bar Association.

Early career

In 1982 Rice was hired for a job in the Cook County State's Attorney office, first working as a victim/witness assistant. She worked her way up to being hired to be an assistant to the Illinois Attorney General's office. She held that job from 1988 through 1989. From 1989 through 1990, Rice served as Assistant Corporation Counsel of Chicago. From 1990 through 1992, she served as the city's Director of Administrative Adjunction. From 1992 through 1993, she served as deputy director of the city's Department of Revenue. From 1993 through 1995, she served as the city's Director of the Department of Revenue of Chicago. From 1995 through 1996, she worked as a member of mayor Richard M. Daley's staff as his executive assistant. From 1996 through 1999, Rice served as Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Water, the first female commissioner in the department's history. From December 1999 through 2000, she served as head of the Chicago Department of Transportation, also being that department's first female head.

Chicago City Treasurer

In November 2000, mayor Richard M. Daley appointed Rice to serve as Chicago City Treasurer, after

Miriam Santos Miriam Santos is an American politician who served as City Treasurer of Chicago. City Treasurer of Chicago In 1989, Santos was appointed by newly-elected mayor Richard M. Daley as City Treasurer of Chicago. She was appointed to replace Cecil A ...

was forced to resign after pleading guilty to mail fraud. Rice was confirmed in a unanimous vote by the

Chicago City Council The Chicago City Council is the legislative branch of the government of the City of Chicago in Illinois. It consists of 50 alderpersons elected from 50 wards to serve four-year terms. The council is gaveled into session regularly, usually mont ...

and sworn into office on November 15, 2000. Rice won reelection to the office in 2003, running unopposed. Rice co-chaired the Champions program of the

2006 Gay Games The 2006 Gay Games (Gay Games VII), colloquially called the Chicago Gaymes, was part of a family of international sports and cultural festivals called Gay Games, sanctioned by the Federation of Gay Games and organized by the gay, lesbian, bisex ...

. On October 26, 2006, Rice announced her resignation as City Treasurer. Daley appointed

Stephanie Neely Stephanie D. Neely was the Treasurer of the City of Chicago, Illinois. She was appointed as Treasurer for the City of Chicago in October 2006, and was sworn in December 2006. Neely was reelected to a second term in February 2011. Neely resigned t ...

as her successor. Rice then joined Daley's administration as a Deputy Mayor. She left that position the following year.

Private sector career

Rice served as Senior Vice President, director of government relations, head of community affairs and head of economic development for BMO Harris Bank. She began her tenure at BMO Harris in 2007.

Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, Rice was elected to a vacant seat on the 7th subcircuit of the Circuit Court of Cook County. She defeated Marianne Jackson and Owens J. Shelby in the Democratic primary. The runner-up, Jackson, was ultimately appointed to another seat on the 7th subcircuit on October 22, 2014, to which she would reelected in 2016, and serve on until retiring in 2018. The election was to the seat vacated by William H. Taylor II upon his 2012 appointment to the Illinois Appellate Court. That seat had been filled, in the interim period before a newly-elected occupant could be sworn-in on December 1, 2014, by

Freddrenna Lyle Freddrenna Margaret Lyle serves as Judge of the First Municipal District of State of Illinois' Circuit Court of Cook County. Appointed on December 16, 2011 by all seven Illinois Supreme Court Justices. She served as alderman of the 6th Ward of th ...

, who on September 10, 2012, had been appointed by the

Illinois Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Illinois is the state supreme court, the highest court of the State of Illinois. The court's authority is granted in Article VI of the current Illinois Constitution, which provides for seven justices elected from the five ap ...

to the serve seat effective November 16, 2012. Instead of seeking reelection to the seat in 2014, Lyle instead ran unsuccessfully for an Illinois Appellate Court seat in 2014. On the court, Rice has been assigned to the Domestic Relations Division. In

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

, Rice was successful in winning her retention election.

Nonprofit work

Rice has served on the advisory board of the Chicago Children's Advocacy Center.

Personal life

In 2013, Rice publicly came out as a lesbian. She revealed that, by the time, she had been in a relationship with her partner Barb Heller for ten years. In January 2013, Rice signed an open letter encouraging Illinois to legalize same-sex marriage.

Awards and recognition

In 2019, the Cook County State's Attorney office named Rice one of the recipients of its Pride Recognition Awards, which recognized "outstanding LGBT community group and leaders, attorneys, and judges" from Cook County.

Electoral history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rice, Judith African-American people in Illinois politics 21st-century American women politicians 1957 births City Treasurers of Chicago African-American judges Illinois Democrats Loyola University Chicago alumni Northern Illinois University alumni John Marshall Law School (Chicago) alumni Lesbian politicians American LGBT politicians LGBT judges Living people LGBT African Americans LGBT people from Illinois Judges of the Circuit Court of Cook County 21st-century American politicians 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American politicians 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women