Sara Lynn Darrow (née Frizzell; born July 29, 1970) is the Chief United States district judge of the

United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois The United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois (in case citations, C.D. Ill.) serves the residents of forty-six counties, which are divided into four divisions. The counties are: Adams, Brown, Bureau, Cass, Champaign, C ...

. She was formerly an Assistant United States Attorney in the

, where she was chief of the

violent crime A violent crime, violent felony, crime of violence or crime of a violent nature is a crime in which an offender or perpetrator uses or threatens to use harmful force upon a victim. This entails both crimes in which the violence, violent act is t ...

s section.

Early life and education

Darrow earned her

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in 1992 from

Marquette University Marquette University () is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Established by the Society of Jesus as Marquette College on August 28, 1881, it was founded by John Henni, John Martin ...

and 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 ...

from

Saint Louis University School of Law Saint Louis University School of Law, also known as SLU LAW, is a private American law school located in St. Louis, Missouri. It is one of the professional graduate schools of Saint Louis University. The University hosted a law school briefly fro ...

in 1997.

Legal career

After graduating from law school, Darrow worked in the law offices of Clarence Darrow in

Rock Island, Illinois Rock Island is a city in and the county seat of Rock Island County, Illinois, Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. The original Rock Island, from which the city name is derived, is now called Rock Island Arsenal, Arsenal Island. The popul ...

. Between 1999 and 2003, she worked in the

Henry County, Illinois Henry County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. The 2010 United States Census, listed its population at 50,486. Its county seat is Cambridge. Henry County is included in the Davenport- Moline- Rock Island, IA-IL Metropolitan ...

State's Attorney's Office in

Cambridge, Illinois Cambridge is a village in Henry County, Illinois, United States. The population was 2,160 at the 2010 census, down from 2,180 in 2000. It is the county seat of Henry County. History Before 1843, the land where Cambridge is currently located was ...

. In 2003 Darrow became an

Assistant United States Attorney An assistant United States attorney (AUSA) is an official career civil service position in the U.S. Department of Justice composed of lawyers working under the U.S. Attorney of each U.S. federal judicial district. They represent the federal gove ...

for the Central District of Illinois where she prosecuted significant criminal cases involving

firearm A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions). The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes ...

drugs A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalat ...

gang A gang is a group or society of associates, friends or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over territory in a community and engages, either individually or collectivel ...

fraud In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compens ...

money laundering Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdictions ...

, and

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...

Federal judicial service

On the recommendation of

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

Dick Durbin Richard Joseph Durbin (born November 21, 1944) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Illinois, a seat he has held since 1997. A member of the Democratic Party, Durbin has served as the Senate Dem ...

, Darrow was nominated to the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois by President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

on November 17, 2010 to fill a vacancy created by Judge Joe Billy McDade, who assumed

senior status Senior status is a form of semi-retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the Federal judiciary of the United States, federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of servi ...

. The United States Senate confirmed Darrow by

unanimous consent In parliamentary procedure, unanimous consent, also known as general consent, or in the case of the parliaments under the Westminster system, leave of the house (or leave of the senate), is a situation in which no member present objects to a prop ...

on August 2, 2011, and she received her commission the next day. She started her term as Chief Judge on March 12, 2019.

Family

Darrow's husband Clarence Michael Darrow serves as an Illinois Circuit Court judge. Her father-in-law Clarence A. Darrow also served as an Illinois state court judge and served in the

Illinois General Assembly The Illinois General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. state of Illinois. It has two chambers, the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate. The General Assembly was created by the first state constitution adopted in 181 ...

.Our Campaigns.com-Clarence A. Darrow
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References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Darrow, Sara 1970 births Living people American prosecutors Illinois lawyers Judges of the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois Marquette University alumni People from Henry County, Illinois People from Pontiac, Michigan Saint Louis University School of Law alumni United States district court judges appointed by Barack Obama 21st-century American judges Assistant United States Attorneys 21st-century American women judges