Overview
- Justice Mary Jane Theis will retire on January 29, concluding more than 40 years on the bench, including service on the Supreme Court since 2010 and a term as chief justice from 2022 to 2025.
- First District Appellate Court Justice Sanjay T. Tailor will take the seat effective January 30 with an interim term running through December 4, 2028.
- Tailor will be the first Asian American to serve on the Illinois Supreme Court, marking a representational milestone for the state judiciary.
- He has 23 years of judicial experience, first appointed as an associate judge in 2003 and later elected circuit judge in 2022 after assignments across multiple Cook County divisions.
- For the past three years, Tailor has served by assignment on the First District Appellate Court, including as a presiding justice, following earlier roles as a Cook County assistant state's attorney and in private practice.