Justice Lisa Holder White and the Illinois Supreme Court have announced the appointment of Erin C. Hannigan as Resident Circuit Judge for the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, Subcircuit 1, Winnebago County. Ms. Hannigan is being appointed to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Chief Judge John Lowry. The appointment of Ms. Hannigan is effective January 20, 2026, and will conclude on December 7, 2026.

Marcia M. Meis, Director of the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts, announced today that the Fourteenth Judicial Circuit judges voted to select Jonathan C. Ruud as an associate judge of the Fourteenth Judicial Circuit. Mr. Ruud received his undergraduate degree in 1999 from Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, Illinois, and his Juris Doctor in 2004 from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois. Mr. Ruud is currently affiliated with Hanna & Ruud, LLC in Moline, Illinois.

The names of the 11 Fellows selected to participate in the 2026 Rural Practice Fellowship Program, which is designed to meet the critical need of providing access to justice for those living in rural areas with a declining lawyer population, have been announced.

Effective January 1st, trial clerks will no longer be required to file a Notice of Appeal in criminal cases where the defendant is represented by counsel. Instead, defense attorneys will be responsible for filing timely Notices of Appeal.