Methodology
Identification
Judges' names are as listed on the Illinois Supreme Court website in 2015 with each judges first, last and middle name or middle initial.
Gender
Gender was inferred from the name of the judge, or from Sullivan's Judicial Profiles or from the judge's own website.
Education and Bar Admission
The law school from which the judge graduated is listed under education, and the year of bar admission in Illinois follows. Law schools that are the flagship state law school are indicated by "U." followed by the state, e.g. U. Illinois for the University of Illinois College of Law in Urbana.
County and Judgeship
County identification is the county of assignment and election, as set out on the Supreme Court of Illinois site or for Cook County, as set out on the Cook County site. Subcircuits within the judicial circuits excluding Cook County were omitted.
Judgeship title is as appears on the Illinois Supreme Court website. Each judge's assignment is as appears in Sullivan's Judicial Profiles.
Population
The population for each county is the population for the county listed as the final population count for that county for 2010 United States Census.
Dates of Appointment and Election for Circuit Court Judges
The first column is the date of first appointment for that judge, followed by dates of reappointment. Appointed judges serve for four years. The date of election is the year of the judge's first election. Elected judges are elected for six years, with retention for the same period. Dates of a judge's retention follow.
Political Party
The source of information on judicial affiliation, Republican or Democrat, was Sullivan's Judicial Profiles. If a judge's political affiliation was not listed in Sullivan's Judicial Profiles, it was obtained from a publicly available source, e.g. Ballotpedia or the judge's personal website.
Legal Experience
The source of information for a judge's legal experience was Sullivan's Judicial Profiles. Codes for prior legal experience are as follows: SA represents State's Attorney's Office. PD represents Public Defender; PP represents Private Practice, O represents 'Other.' Coding rules are as follows: Any prior legal experience in the Office of a State's Attorney was coded SA. Gradations of appointments within the Office of the State's Attorney are not indicated. Similarly, gradations of experience or appointment for Public Defender were not indicated, nor were details of the experience in private practice or other legal experience. All such details are available in Sullivan's Judicial Profiles.
Sources
SULLIVAN'S JUDICIAL PROFILES, THE ILLINOIS JUDICIAL DIRECTORY 2014–2015 (2015)
SULLIVAN'S JUDICIAL PROFILES, THE ILLINOIS JUDICIAL DIRECTORY 2015–2016 (2015)
Illinois Courts, http://www.illinoiscourts.gov
Cook County Courts, http://www.cookcountycourts.org
Illinois Judiciary Map, http://illinoiscourts.gov/CircuitCourt/CircuitMap/Map1.asp
