Cook County Circuit Court Judges

Since 1848, Illinois judges have been chosen through partisan elections. Around one-third of Cook County circuit judges are elected countywide. The other two-thirds of judicial seats are distributed among 20 geographic subcircuits. Only candidates who live in that subcircuit can run for an open seat, and only voters who live there can vote for them. Once elected, all Illinois judges will run for “retention” in the general election, which means they don’t face challengers after six years. Voters choose yes or no, and the judge has to get 60% yes votes to remain on the bench.

Candidates

Navigating judicial ratings can be daunting. To help voters elect and retain qualified judges, 13 local and state bar associations have comprehensively reviewed and assessed judicial candidates in a nonpartisan manner. WTTW News simplified those evaluations to help you make informed decisions at the polls.

In the below tables, we condensed the ratings to note whether candidates were unanimously determined to be qualified, unanimously determined to be unqualified or received mixed ratings. The associations take a variety of approaches to rating descriptions. Hover/tap an icon to see the exact ratings from each bar association with their own rating designations noted.