Associate judges are subject to reappointment every four years. ISBA conducts a Judicial Advisory Poll on all associate judges seeking reappointment (except Cook County). ISBA attorney members are mailed a ballot containing the names of every associate judge seeking reappointment in their circuit. Licensed attorneys who are not members of the ISBA may request a ballot. Attorneys are asked to respond only if they have sufficient knowledge about the associate judge’s qualifications for judicial office to give a fair informed opinion.
Although the decision on associate judge reappointment is made by the circuit judges, the ISBA releases the results of the poll to the public, because all judges are public officials and the opinions of their professional colleagues about their performance is of public interest.
The release of results are at the discretion of the chief judge of the circuit.
For most judicial offices, ISBA will provide either an evaluation or a poll rating. In the case of Supreme and Appellate court candidates outside of Cook County, ISBA provides both evaluation and poll ratings. Evaluation ratings, which are the result of an in-depth review of candidates, represent the opinion of the ISBA. Judicial Advisory Poll ratings are the opinion of those attorneys who chose to respond and do not reflect the opinion of the ISBA or the opinion of all Illinois attorneys.
