Justice Bertina E. Lampkin faces a retention vote for her seat on the Illinois Appellate Court's 1st District on Nov. 3, 2026. Park Ridge and other Cook County voters will decide whether to keep Lampkin on the bench.
In a retention race, no opposing candidate appears on the ballot. Voters simply choose yes or no. The 1st District of the Illinois Appellate Court covers Cook County, making this race relevant to Park Ridge residents.
Candidate information
- Office sought: Illinois Appellate Court Judge, 1st District (retention)
- Party: Nonpartisan
- Ballot status: Certified for the ballot
- Hometown: Chicago, Illinois
- Education: Bachelor's degree from Roosevelt University (1974); law degree from DePaul University (1974)
Experience and public service
Lampkin has spent more than five decades in Cook County's legal system, according to BallotReady and the Illinois Courts website.
She began her career as an assistant state's attorney in Cook County, serving from 1974 to 1985. She then worked as a senior attorney in the Office of the Corporation Counsel from 1985 to 1987.
Lampkin became an associate judge on the Cook County Circuit Court in 1987 and was elevated to circuit judge in 1992, a position she held until 2009. She also served as a supervising judge during her time on the circuit court.
She has served on the Illinois Appellate Court's 1st District since 2009.
Beyond the bench, Lampkin served on the Illinois Supreme Court's criminal pattern jury instructions committee for fifteen years, chairing the committee for the last five of those years, according to the Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts. She taught in the area of death penalty litigation and new judge classes and wrote practice guides for new judges.
On the issues
No issue responses from Lampkin were available for this profile.
Endorsements
The Chicago Council of Lawyers rated Lampkin "Qualified" for the Appellate Court, according to the Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts.
- Chicago Council of Lawyers (Qualified)
Candidate profile information was drawn from BallotReady, the Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts and the Illinois Courts website. No candidate questionnaire responses were available at the time of publication. The Chicago Council of Lawyers rating traces to an older evaluation; its current-cycle status could not be confirmed.
