§ 2f — Circuit of Cook County

(a) Until December 2, 2024, the Circuit of Cook County shall be divided into 15 units to be known as subcircuits. On and after December 2, 2024, the Circuit of Cook County is divided into 20 subcircuits as drawn by the General Assembly. The subcircuits shall be compact, contiguous, and substantially equal in population. Beginning in 2031, the General Assembly shall, in the year following each federal decennial census, redraw the boundaries of the subcircuits to reflect the results of the most recent federal decennial census. In accordance with subsection (d), a resident judgeship assigned to a subcircuit shall continue to be assigned to that subcircuit. Any vacancy in a resident judgeship existing on or occurring after the effective date of a law redrawing the boundaries of the subcircuits shall be filled by a resident of the redrawn subcircuit. (b) The 165 resident judges to be elected from the Circuit of Cook County shall be determined under paragraph (4) of subsection (a) of Section 2 of the Judicial Vacancies Act. (c) For resident judgeships to be filled by election on or before the 2022 general election, the Supreme Court shall allot (i) the additional resident judgeships provided by paragraph (4) of subsection (a) of Section 2 of the Judicial Vacancies Act and (ii) all vacancies in resident judgeships existing on or occurring on or after the effective date of this amendatory Act of 1990, with respect to the other resident judgeships of the Circuit of Cook County, for election from the various subcircuits until there are 11 resident judges to be elected from each of the 15 subcircuits (for a total of 165). A resident judgeship authorized before the effective date of this amendatory Act of 1990 that became vacant and was filled by appointment by the Supreme Court before that effective date shall be filled by election at the general election in November of 1992 from the unit of the Circuit of Cook County within Chicago or the unit of that Circuit outside Chicago, as the case may be, in which the vacancy occurred. (d) As soon as practicable after the subcircuits are created by law, the Supreme Court shall determine by lot a numerical order for the 15 subcircuits. That numerical order shall be the basis for the order in which resident judgeships are assigned to the subcircuits. After the first round of assignments, the second and all later rounds shall be based on the same numerical order. Once a resident judgeship is assigned to a subcircuit, it shall continue to be assigned to that subcircuit for all purposes; provided that a resident judge elected from a subcircuit seeking retention shall run for retention at large in the circuit in accordance with Article VI, Section 12(d) of the Illinois Constitution. No elected judge of the Circuit of Cook County serving on January 7, 2022 shall be required to change his or her residency in order to continue serving in office or to seek retention in office as resident judgeships are allotted by the Supreme Court in accordance with this Section. (d-5) For resident judgeships to be filled by election on or after the 2024 general election, a vacancy of a resident judgeship to be elected from a subcircuit shall be allotted by the Supreme Court to the subcircuit created under the Judicial Circuits Districting Act of 2022 that numerically corresponds to the subcircuit from which the resident judgeship was previously allotted. For any resident judgeship to be elected from a subcircuit that was not previously allotted to a subcircuit, vacancies shall be allotted in numerical order to subcircuits created under the Judicial Circuits Districting Act of 2022 which numerically correspond to subcircuits that had less than 11 resident judges on January 7, 2022 until there are 11 resident judges to be elected from each of the respective subcircuits. Vacancies in associate judgeships authorized under Section 2(a) of the Associate Judges Act occurring or after June 1, 2023 shall be converted to resident circuit judgeships and shall be allotted in numerical order to subcircuits 16, 17, 18, 19, and 20, until there are 11 resident judges to be elected from each of those subcircuits (for a total of 55). Beginning with the 2024 election cycle, the maximum number of associate judgeship vacancies which shall be converted to resident circuit judgeships to be allotted in an election cycle shall be 10 resident circuit judgeships, with each subcircuit allotted no more than 2 resident circuit judgeships per election cycle. Any additional associate judgeship vacancies in excess of the maximum number per election cycle shall not be converted to resident circuit judgeships and shall be filled according to Supreme Court Rule 39 until such time that a vacancy in the associate judgeship occurs. A vacancy occurs when an associate judge dies, resigns, retires, is removed, or is not reappointed upon the expiration of his or her term; a vacancy does not occur at the expiration of a term if the associate judge is reappointed. As used in this subsection, "election cycle" means the period that begins on the day following the last day to certify judicial vacancies for election at the next general election and ends on the last day to certify judicial vacancies for election at the next general election, as provided in Section 25-3 of the Election Code. (e) A resident judge elected from a subcircuit shall continue to reside in that subcircuit as long as he or she holds that office. A resident judge elected from a subcircuit after January 1, 2008, must retain residency as a registered voter in the subcircuit to run for retention from the circuit at large thereafter.

Legislative History

(Source: P.A. 102-668, eff. 11-15-21; 102-693, eff. 1-7-22; 102-1126, eff. 2-10-23; 103-597, eff. 7-1-24.)