Illinois
Illinois Supreme Court By The Numbers:
Justice
Former prosecutor
Former public defender
Former civil rights lawyer
Both a former prosecutor & public defender
- 7 Total seats
- 0 Current vacancies
- 2 Prosecutors
- 1 Public Defender (or other indigent defense experience)
- 1 Justice is both a former prosecutor & public defender
- 1 Civil Rights Lawyer
How Members of the Illinois Supreme Court are Selected:
Partisan Election, Retention Election
Justices are selected in partisan elections to 10-year terms by voters in the region that their seat represents. To remain on the court, justices must win approval in uncontested retention elections. Interim selections to fill vacancies that occur between elections are made by the state supreme court via majority vote.
Selection method sources:
Ballotpedia, Judicial Election Methods By State; Brennan Center for Justice, Judicial Selection: An Interactive Map