Tyria B. Walton has been appointed as a Cook County circuit judge in the First Judicial Subcircuit.

The appointment is effective June 25 and will conclude on Dec. 7, 2020, following the November 2020 general election.

Walton has served for over 20 years as an assistant public defender in the law office of the Cook County Public Defender, with a primary focus in first-degree murder defense. Over the past year, she has won her clients six not guilty verdicts in murder trials. 

Walton earned her bachelor's degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and her Juris Doctor from the Loyola University School of Law. Her professional associations include the Illinois State Bar Association, the Capital Litigation Trial Bar, the Cook County Bar Association, the Civil Rights Black Women Lawyers Association, and the Community Service National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.