Union County Circuit Judge Mark M. Boie, a Republican, has been assigned a seat on the Fifth District Appellate Court to fill the vacancy created by the election of Justice David Overstreet last November.
Boie's assignment takes effect on May 1, and will remain in effect until further order of the court, according to a press release from the Illinois Supreme Court.
Chief Justice Lloyd Karmeier chose Boie for the seat.
“Judge Boie is an experienced jurist who has served the judicial branch with distinction for nearly 20 years," Karmeier stated in a press release. "The high regard in which he is held by both the community at large and the bar are reflected in his continued retention in office and the exemplary judicial advisory poll ratings he received prior to his most recent election (in the First Judicial Circuit).
“The Supreme Court has every confidence that he will carry out his new responsibilities on the appellate court with the same integrity, impartiality and diligence he has demonstrated as a circuit judge.”
Boie's assignment to the appellate court makes him the fifth Republican justice on the court, strengthening the conservative balance, 5-2.
He was first elected to the bench in 2000 as resident circuit judge in Union County and was retained by voters in 2006, 2012 and 2018. Prior to serving on the bench, Boie practiced law at the Law Offices of Wesley L. Boie and Mark M. Boie and served as conflict public defender in Union, Johnson and Pulaski counties, the press release states.
Boie has been a member of the Special Supreme Court Advisory Committee for Justice and Mental Health Planning since 2010 and since 2015 has served as co-chairperson of the Advisory Committee’s sub-committee for compliance with the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Code. He is also a member of the Advisory Committee’s subcommittee for education and was involved with drafting the new Supreme Court rule on the use of restraints in involuntary commitment proceedings.
“I am extremely humbled and thankful that Chief Justice Karmeier and the Illinois Supreme Court have placed their confidence in me to serve on assignment as an appellate judge in the Fifth Appellate District,” Boie satated in the release. “It has been an honor to serve the citizens of Union
County and the entire First Judicial Circuit as a circuit judge for the past 18 years. I am excited to begin a new chapter in my career with this wonderful opportunity of service on the appellate court.”
He earned his bachelor of arts degree from the University of Mississippi in 1989 and his juris doctor from the John Marshall Law School in 1996.