Illinois General Assembly - Illinois Compiled Statutes

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705 ILCS 35/2f

(705 ILCS 35/2f) (from Ch. 37, par. 72.2f)

Sec. 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. Any vacancies in formerly associate judgeships converted to resident circuit judgeships in the Circuit of Cook County occurring on or after June 1, 2023 shall be allotted in numerical order to Judicial 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). The maximum number of formerly associate judgeships converted to resident circuit judgeships which may be allotted to Judicial Subcircuits 16, 17, 18, 19, and 20 in an election cycle shall be 2 judgeships per subcircuit.

(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.

(Source: P.A. 101-477, eff. 6-1-20; 102-668, eff. 11-15-21; 102-693, eff. 1-7-22; 102-1126, eff. 2-10-23.)