The Illinois Supreme Court has announced that it is assigning Cook County Circuit Judge David R. Navarro to the Illinois Appellate Court, First Judicial District, effective February 6, 2023.  Judge Navarro is being assigned to fill the
vacancy created by the assignment of Justice Mary Mikva to the vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Maureen Connors.  The assignment is will continue until further order of the Court.

Justice Connors has served on the bench since 1988, when she was selected to serve as an associate judge in the Circuit Court of Cook County.  As an associate judge, Justice Connors served in Traffic Court, Domestic Violence Court, the First Municipal District Court, and the Fifth Municipal District Court in Bridgeview, Illinois.  She was elected as a circuit judge in 1994 and assigned to the Probate Division, where she served until her appointment to the appellate court in October 2010.

Judge Navarro was appointed to the Cook County Circuit Court in May 2017 and won election in 2018.  He was named Supervising Judge of the
Pretrial Division in January 2020, and was named Acting Presiding Judge of the Pretrial Division in November 2021.  He currently sits on the Illinois Supreme Court Rules Committee as well as several Illinois Supreme Court Subcommittees.

Before joining the bench, Judge Navarro served as the Chief of the Public Integrity Bureau for the Office of the Illinois Attorney General from 2009 to 2017, and previously served in the Cook County State's Attorney's Office as an Assistant State's Attorney and Supervisor of the Professional Standards Unit.

Judge Navarro earned his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Chicago and earned his juris doctor from the University of Iowa College of Law.

The Illinois Supreme Court's announcement of Judge Navarro's appointment may be found here. 

The ALA congratulates Justice Connors on her retirement and Judge Navarro on his appointment to the appellate court.