The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (in

case citation Case citation is a system used by legal professionals to identify past court case decisions, either in series of books called reporters or law reports, or in a neutral style that identifies a decision regardless of where it is reported. Case ci ...

s, N.D. Ill.) is the federal trial-level court with jurisdiction over the northern counties of

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

. Appeals from the Northern District of Illinois are taken to the

United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (in case citations, 7th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the courts in the following districts: * Central District of Illinois * Northern District of Il ...

(except for

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...

claims and claims against the U.S. government under the

Tucker Act The Tucker Act (March 3, 1887, ch. 359, , ) is a federal statute of the United States by which the United States government has waived its sovereign immunity with respect to certain lawsuits. The Tucker Act may be divided into the "Big" Tucker A ...

, which are appealed to the

Federal Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (in case citations, Fed. Cir. or C.A.F.C.) is a United States court of appeals that has special appellate jurisdiction over certain types of specialized cases in the U.S. federal court ...

). The court is divided into two geographical divisions: The eastern division includes

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 * ...

, DuPage, McHenry, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, La Salle,

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 ...

, and

Will Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will ...

counties. Its sessions are held in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and Wheaton. The western division includes Boone, Carroll, De Kalb, Jo Daviess, Lee,

Ogle Ogle may refer to: Places * Ogle County, Illinois, United States * Original name of Ashton, Illinois, a village * Ogle, Kentucky, United States, an unincorporated community * Ogle Township, Somerset County, Pennsylvania, United States * Ogle, N ...

, Stephenson,

Whiteside Whiteside may refer to: Places ;Australia * Whiteside, Queensland, suburb in the Moreton Bay Region, Queensland ;Canada * Whiteside, Nova Scotia ;United Kingdom * Whiteside (Lake District), a fell in the west of the English Lake District * White ...

, and Winnebago. Its sessions are held in Freeport and Rockford. The United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois represents the United States in civil and criminal litigation in the court. The current United States Attorney is

John R. Lausch Jr. John R. Lausch Jr. (born 1970) is an American attorney who served as the United States attorney for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Northern District of Illinois from 2017 to 2023. Previously, he served as ...

since November 22, 2017.

History

The

United States District Court for the District of Illinois The following are former United States district courts, which ceased to exist because they were subdivided into smaller units. With the exception of California, each of these courts initially covered an entire U.S. state, and was subdivided as the ...

was established by a statute passed by the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

on March 3, 1819, .Asbury Dickens, ''A Synoptical Index to the Laws and Treaties of the United States of America'' (1852), p. 393.U.S. District Courts of Illinois, Legislative history
''

Federal Judicial Center The Federal Judicial Center is the education and research agency of the United States federal courts. It was established by in 1967, at the recommendation of the Judicial Conference of the United States. According to , the main areas of respo ...

''. The act established a single office for a judge to preside over the court. Initially, the court was not within any existing judicial circuit, and appeals from the court were taken directly to the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

. In 1837, Congress created the

, placing it in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and giving it jurisdiction over the District of Illinois, . The Northern District itself was created by a statute passed on February 13, 1855, , which subdivided the District of Illinois into the Northern and the Southern Districts. The boundaries of the District and the seats of the courts were set forth in the statute: The district has since been re-organized several times. The

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Illinois The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Illinois (in case citations, E.D. Ill.) is a former federal district court for the state of Illinois. The court was established on March 3, 1905, by 33 Stat. 992. The Northern and South ...

was created on March 3, 1905, by , by splitting counties out of the Northern and Southern Districts. It was later eliminated in a reorganization on October 2, 1978, which replaced it with a

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

District, , formed primarily from parts of the Southern District, and returning some counties to the Northern District. The Northern District of Illinois, which contains the entire

Chicago metropolitan area The Chicago metropolitan area, also colloquially referred to as Chicagoland, is a metropolitan area in the Midwestern United States. Encompassing 10,286 sq mi (28,120 km2), the metropolitan area includes the city of Chicago, its suburbs and hi ...

, accounts for 1,531 of the 1,828 public corruption convictions in the state between 1976 and 2012, almost 84%, also making it the federal district with the most public corruption convictions in the nation between 1976 and 2012.

Cases

It is one of the busiest federal trial courts in the nation. Famous cases have included those of

Al Capone Alphonse Gabriel Capone (; January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), sometimes known by the nickname "Scarface", was an American gangster and businessman who attained notoriety during the Prohibition era as the co-founder and boss of the ...

and the

Chicago Eight The Chicago Seven, originally the Chicago Eight and also known as the Conspiracy Eight or Conspiracy Seven, were seven defendants—Rennie Davis, David Dellinger, John Froines, Tom Hayden, Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, and Lee Weiner—charged b ...

Current judges

Vacancies and pending nominations

Former judges

Chief judges

Succession of seats

List of U.S. Attorneys since 1857

* Augustus M. Herrington, 1857–1858 * Henry S. Fitch, 1858–1861 * Edwin C. Larned, 1861 * Joseph O. Glover, 1869 * Mark Bangs, 1875–1879 * Joseph B. Seake, 1879–1884 * Richard S. Tuthill, 1884–1886 * William G. Ewing, 1886–1890 * Thomas E. Milchrist, 1891–1893 * Sherwood Dixon, 1893–1894 *

John C. Black John Charles Black (January 27, 1839 – August 17, 1915) was a Democratic U.S. Congressman from Illinois. He received the Medal of Honor for his actions as a Union Army lieutenant colonel and regimental commander at the Battle of Prairie Grove ...

, 1895–1899 *

Solomon H. Bethea Solomon Hicks Bethea (May 18, 1852 – August 3, 1909) was an American attorney, politician and judge. He was appointed United States district judge for the Northern District of Illinois by Theodore Roosevelt. He also served as United States ...

, 1899–1905 * Charles B. Morrison, 1905–1906 * Edwin W. Sims, 1906–1911 * James Herbert Wilkerson, 1911–1914 * Charles F. Clyne, 1914–1922 * Edwin A. Olson, 1922–1927 * George E. Q. Johnson, 1927–1931 *

Dwight H. Green Dwight Herbert Green (January 9, 1897 – February 20, 1958) was an American politician who served as the 30th Governor of the US state of Illinois, serving from 1941 to 1949. From childhood to early adulthood Green was born in Ligonier, No ...

, 1931–1935 *

Michael L. Igoe Michael Lambert Igoe (April 16, 1885 – August 21, 1967) was an American politician who served as a United States representative from Illinois, an Illinois state representative, a United States District Attorney for the Northern District of Illi ...

, 1935–1938 * William Joseph Campbell, 1938–1940 * J. Albert Woll, 1940–1947 *

Otto Kerner Jr. Otto Kerner Jr. (August 15, 1908 – May 9, 1976) was an American jurist and politician who served as the 33rd governor of Illinois from 1961 to 1968 and a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ...

, 1947–1954 * Irwin N. Cohen, 1954 * Robert Tieken, 1954–1961 * James P. O'Brien, 1961–1963 * Frank E. McDonald, 1963–1964 *

Edward Hanrahan Edward Vincent Hanrahan (March 11, 1921 – June 9, 2009) was an American attorney and politician who served as Cook County State's Attorney from 1968 to 1972. Hanrahan had been a prospective successor to Mayor of Chicago Richard J. Daley. ...

, 1964–1968 *

Tom Foran Thomas Aquinas Foran (January 11, 1924 – August 6, 2000) was a United States Attorney best known as the chief prosecutor in the Chicago Seven conspiracy trial in which seven defendants, including Jerry Rubin, Abbie Hoffman, David Dellinger, ...

, 1968–1970 *

William J. Bauer William Joseph Bauer (born September 15, 1926) is an inactive senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago and previously a United States district judge of the United States District ...

, 1970–1971 *

James R. Thompson James Robert Thompson Jr. (May 8, 1936 – August 14, 2020), also known as Big Jim Thompson, was an American attorney and politician who served as the 37th governor of Illinois from 1977 to 1991. A moderate Republican who sometimes took more ...

, 1971–1975 *

Samuel K. Skinner Samuel Knox Skinner (born June 10, 1938) is an American politician, lawyer, and businessman. Skinner served as U.S. Secretary of Transportation and White House Chief of Staff under President George H. W. Bush. Prior to the Bush administration, ...

, 1975–1977 *

Thomas P. Sullivan Thomas P. Sullivan was a prominent Illinois attorney known for his involvement in notable constitutional cases, investigations, and contributions to public policy and law. He was a partner at the Jenner & Block law firm. He died May 18, 2021, at ...

, 1977–1981 * Gregory C. Jones, 1981 *

Dan K. Webb Daniel K. Webb (born September 5, 1945) is an American lawyer and public official. He is the co-executive chairman of the international law firm of Winston & Strawn. He is a former United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois an ...

, 1981–1985 * Anton R. Valukas, 1985–1989 * Ira A. Raphaelson, 1989–1990 * Fred Foreman, 1990–1993 * Michael J. Shepard, 1993 *

Jim Burns Jim Burns (born 10 April 1948) is a Welsh artist born in Cardiff, Wales. He has been called one of the Grand Masters of the science fiction art world. In 1966 he joined the Royal Air Force, but soon thereafter he left and signed up at the N ...

, 1993–1997 * Scott R. Lassar, 1997–2001 *

Patrick Fitzgerald Patrick J. Fitzgerald (born December 22, 1960) is an American lawyer and partner at the law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom since October 2012. For more than a decade, until June 30, 2012, Fitzgerald was the United States Attorney f ...

, 2001–2012 * Gary S. Shapiro, 2012–2013 *

Zachary T. Fardon Zachary Thomas Fardon (born 1966) served as the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. He began serving as the U.S. Attorney in Chicago on October 23, 2013, after President Obama signed his commission. He resigned on March ...

, 2013–2017 * Joel R. Levin, 2017 *

, 2017–present

References

External links

*
United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois Official Website

Office of Special Counsel, Northern District of Illinois
{{DEFAULTSORT:United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois Illinois, Northern District Organizations based in Illinois 1855 establishments in Illinois Chicago Rockford, Illinois Courthouses in Illinois Courts and tribunals established in 1855