Cook County Circuit Court Judge John G. Mulroe faces a retention vote on the Nov. 3 general election ballot. In a retention race, voters decide whether to keep a sitting judge on the bench. No opposing candidate appears on the ballot.

Mulroe has served on the Cook County Circuit Court since 2019. The Illinois Supreme Court appointed him on June 21, 2019, to fill the 10th Subcircuit vacancy left by the retirement of Judge Thomas R. Allen, according to his Wikipedia biography. He won election to the seat in 2020.

Candidate information

  • Full name: John G. Mulroe
  • Date of birth: July 21, 1959
  • Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois
  • Education: Bachelor's degree in business administration, Loyola University (1982); juris doctor, Loyola University (1988)

Experience and public service

Before joining the bench, Mulroe held a range of legal and public roles. He worked as a certified public accountant and served as an assistant state's attorney from 1988 to 1995, according to the Committee for Retention of Judges and BallotReady. He then practiced law privately from 1995 to 2010.

Mulroe served in the Illinois State Senate from 2010 to 2019.

Prior to becoming a judge, he served as president of his local school board, a member of the Community Council and the St. Angela Education Foundation, and a coach and science fair volunteer at elementary schools, according to the Committee for Retention of Judges.

Since joining the bench, Mulroe has volunteered at the Greater Chicago Food Depository, judged mock trials for law schools, volunteered at the Edison Park Turkey Trot, and presented mock bills and mock trials to elementary students, according to the Committee for Retention of Judges.

He holds memberships in bar associations and legal organizations including the Chicago Bar Association, the Illinois State Bar Association, the Illinois Judges Association, the Cook County Bar Association, the Decalogue Society of Lawyers, the Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois, the Asian American Bar Association of the Greater Chicago Area and the Women's Bar Association of Illinois.

Endorsements

Both judicial screening bodies that evaluated Mulroe rated him "Qualified," according to the Committee for Retention of Judges.

  • Alliance of Bar Associations for Judicial Screening — Found qualified by all fourteen bar associations that interviewed him and evaluated his credentials
  • Chicago Bar Association Judicial Evaluation Committee — Found qualified, citing "highly complimentary reviews from attorneys who appear before him" and respect for "his integrity and knowledge of the law"

The candidate information in this profile is drawn from the Committee for Retention of Judges, BallotReady and Wikipedia. No candidate questionnaire responses were available for this profile.