Madison County Circuit Judge Barbara Crowder was selected to serve as the Secretary of the Illinois Judges Association.
The annual meeting was held at Chicago-Kent College of Law in Chicago on June 2.
Crowder served on the Board of Directors of the Illinois Judges Association for 12 years.
Crowder was appointed an associate judge with the Madison County Circuit Court in January 1999.
She was later elected a circuit judge in 2006.
She currently serves as a co-chair of the Third Circuit Family Violence Prevention Council and has served on its Court Committee since1996.
Crowder is the chair of the Third Circuit Pro Bono Committee and is a member of the Madison County Bar Association, the Illinois State Bar Association and the American Bar Association.
Crowder also serves on the Illinois Supreme Court Special Child Custody Committee and is a member of the faculty for Judicial Education Conferences.
Crowder is a member of the Judicial Benchbook committee on Civil Practice and Procedure.
She is a former president of the Illinois Judges Foundation and currently serves on its Board of Directors.
Crowder is the 2017/18 vice-chair of the Civil Practice and Procedure Section Council of the Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA) and is a former chair of the ISBA Bench and Bar Section Council, the ISBA Standing Committee on the Delivery of Legal Services and its Family Law Section Council.
Crowder earned her B.A. with a distinction in speech communication from the University of Illinois in 1978 and earned her law degree in 1981.
She served as an Assistant’s State’s Attorney in Madison County after graduation until she entered private practice in 1985.
The Illinois Judges Association represents 1,250 active and retired Illinois state court judges. It was founded in 1972 to provide services, support and education to its member judges, as well as to raise public understanding of the state’s judicial system.
Retired judge John Coady of Taylorville was selected as president of the Illinois Judges Association. Judge James E. Snyder of Cook County was selected as vice president. Judge Margaret J. Mullen of Lake County was selected as second vice president. Judge Diane M. Shelley of Cook County was selected as third vice president. Justice Eileen O’Neill Burke of the First District Appellate Court was selected as treasurer.