Mary Kay O'Brien (born June 4, 1965) is an American judge and politician who serves as a justice of the

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

since 2022.

Early life and education

Born was born on June 4, 1965, in

Kankakee, Illinois Kankakee ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Kankakee County, Illinois, United States. Located on the Kankakee River, as of 2020, the city's population was 24,052. Kankakee is a principal city of the Kankakee-Bourbonnais-Bradley, IL MSA, Kan ...

, O'Brien grew up on a farm in Reddick, Illinois. She graduated from Reddick High School and went to

Joliet Junior College Joliet Junior College (JJC) is a public community college in Joliet, Illinois. Founded in 1901, it was the first public community college founded in the United States. In Spring 2014, the college enrolled 16,375 students. Every year, 48,000 st ...

. O'Brien received her bachelor's degree from

Western Illinois University Western Illinois University (WIU) is a public university in Macomb, Illinois, United States. It was founded in 1899 as Western Illinois State Normal School. As the normal school grew, it became Western Illinois State Teachers College. Once West ...

in 1986 and her J.D. degree from the

University of Illinois College of Law The University of Illinois College of Law at Urbana-Champaign is the law school of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, a public land-grant research university in Champaign and Urbana, Illinois. It was established in 1897 and offers th ...

in 1994.

Illinois House of Representatives

In 1996, she defeated Republican incumbent Stephen Spangler to represent the 75th district. The 75th district, at the time, included all of Grundy county and parts of LaSalle, Kankakee, 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. From 1997 to 2003, O'Brien served in the

Illinois House of Representatives The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 representativ ...

and was a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

. The 2001 decennial reapportionment, added portions of

Iroquois The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...

and Livingston counties. O'Brien resigned from the Illinois House of Representatives on December 17, 2003.

Judicial service

O'Brien was appointed a judge of the Third District of the

Illinois Appellate Court The Illinois Appellate Court is the court of first appeal for civil and criminal cases rising in the Illinois circuit courts. In Illinois, litigants generally have a right to first appeal from final decisions or judgements of the circuit court ...

to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Thomas J. Homer. She was sworn in on December 26, 2003. O'Brien was elected to the court in 2004 and retained in 2014. O'Brien was elected to the third district seat on the

in 2022. She was sworn into office on December 5, 2022. The Illinois Supreme Court appointed Linda Davenport to the vacancy created by O'Brien's election.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Obrien, Mary Kay 1965 births Living people 20th-century American women politicians 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century American women judges 21st-century American judges Joliet Junior College alumni Judges of the Illinois Appellate Court Justices of the Supreme Court of Illinois Democratic Party members of the Illinois House of Representatives People from Kankakee, Illinois University of Illinois College of Law alumni Western Illinois University alumni Women state legislators in Illinois 20th-century members of the Illinois General Assembly 21st-century members of the Illinois General Assembly