The Illinois Supreme Court announced Monday the appointment of Associate Judge Charles M. Feeney III of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit as a resident circuit judge of Woodford County.

Judge Feeney was appointed to fill the resident Circuit Court vacancy created by the retirement of Judge John B. Huschen. The appointment is effective April 1, 2014 and will expire December 5, 2016 when the position will be filled by the 2016 General Election.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Rita B. Garman recommended the appointment to the Supreme Court after a review process by a judicial screening committee.

"I am humbled by the appointment and I look forward to serving the Eleventh Circuit in this capacity," Judge Feeney said. "I am grateful to the Supreme Court and to Chief Justice Garman in particular for this opportunity."

Judge Feeney graduated with a B.A. degree from the University of Illinois in 1985. He received his juris doctor degree from Washington University Law School in 1988. While in law school, Judge Feeney served as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Marine Corp Reserves. Upon graduation, Judge Feeney was active duty in the Marine Corps as a Judge Advocate General from 1988-1991, serving with the rank of Major. He continued to serve in the Marine Corps Reserves from 1991-2005.

In 2000, Judge Feeney was selected by the Circuit Judges in the 11th Judicial Circuit to serve as an associate judge. He is trained as an evaluation facilitator for the Illinois Judicial Performance Evaluation Committee. The Committee, created by the Supreme Court in 2011, is charged with implementing and administering the Court's program of judicial performance evaluation for the purpose of achieving excellence in the performance of individual judges and the improvement of the judiciary as a whole.

Judge Feeney is also a certified peer judge mentor since his training in 2010. The program, an expansion of the Supreme Court's judge mentoring program, was established to improve public confidence in the courts and ensure judicial independence by improving the skills and performance of the Illinois judiciary.

Before his appointment to the bench, Judge Feeney served as Woodford County state’s attorney from 1998-2000.

A resident of El Paso, Judge Feeney is married with four children.

Chief Justice Garman’s special screening committee, which reviewed the candidates, consisted of four non-lawyers and three lawyers.

The non-lawyer members were: Eureka residents Randy Crump and Matt Smith; El Paso resident Linda Haas; and Roanoke resident Robert Knepp.

The lawyer members of the committee were: Chairperson Guy Fraker of Bloomington; Ned Leiken of Minonk; and James Stoller of El Paso.

The Eleventh Judicial Circuit is composed of Ford, Livingston, Logan, McLean and Woodford counties.