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PROPOSED RESOLUTION
HONORING JUSTICE MARY JANE THEIS ON HER APPOINTMENT AS CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE ILLINOIS SUPREME COURT
WHEREAS, Justice Mary Jane Theis was formally sworn in as Chief Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court on November 14, 2022. Justice Theis was selected to serve as Chief Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court at the Court's September 2022 Term. She will serve a three-year term commencing, October 26, 2022, succeeding Anne M. Burke, whose tenure as Chief Justice ended on October 25, 2022; and
WHEREAS, Justice Theis will be the fourth woman to serve as Chief Justice following the late Justice Mary Ann McMorrow, Justice Rita B. Garman, and Justice Burke; and
WHEREAS, Justice Theis was born Mary Jane Wendt in Chicago, Illinois to Eleanore and Judge Kenneth Wendt, a member of the Illinois General Assembly and longtime judge in Cook County. She received her bachelor's degree from Loyola University Chicago in 1971 and her J.D degree from the University of San Francisco School of Law in 1974; and
WHEREAS, following an internship at the Marin County Public Defender's Office in California and her graduation from law school, Justice Theis returned to Chicago as an Assistant Public Defender in Cook County where she worked from 1974 to 1983. She is the first former Public Defender to serve as Chief Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court; and
WHEREAS, Justice Theis has a long history on the bench. She became an associate judge in 1983, In 1988 she was elected as a circuit judge and was assigned to both the Criminal and Chancery Divisions. In 1993, Justice Theis was assigned to the First District Appellate Court by the Supreme Court and subsequently elected to that position in 1994. In 2010, she was appointed by the Illinois Supreme Court to fill a vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Thomas R. Fitzgerald, taking office October 26, 2010; and
WHEREAS, Justice Theis won election to a full term in 2012. In the general election, the Chicago Tribune...
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