Justice David K. Overstreet and the Illinois Supreme Court have announced that Second Judicial Circuit Judge Barry L. Vaughan has been assigned as an appellate justice in the Fifth District.
Vaughan was assigned to fill the vacancy created by the election of Judge Mark M. Boie last month to the Fifth District Appellate Court.
The assignment will take effect on Jan. 4, and remain in effect until further ordered. Overstreet will administer the oath.
“I am humbled and thankful to Justice Overstreet and the Supreme Court for assigning me to the Appellate Court,” Vaughan stated in a press release. “I pledge to the people of this district that I will perform the duties assigned to me faithfully and with equal justice for all who appear before me.”
Vaughan, 58, of McLeansboro, is Republican. He was first elected to the bench in 2002 as resident circuit judge in Hamilton County and was retained by voters in 2008, 2014 and 2020. Prior to serving on the bench, Vaughan was in private practice at Cochran and Vaughan for six years and served as Wayne County State’s Attorney for eight years.
He earned his bachelor of arts from the Southern Illinois University in 1985 and his juris doctor from the Southern Illinois University School of Law School in 1988.
The Fifth Judicial District is composed of 37 counties in the southernmost part of Illinois, including: Alexander, Bond, Christian, Clay, Clinton, Crawford, Edwards, Effingham, Fayette, Franklin, Gallatin, Hamilton, Hardin, Jackson, Jasper, Jefferson, Johnson, Lawrence, Madison, Marion, Massac, Monroe, Montgomery, Perry, Pope, Pulaski, Randolph, Richland, Saline, Shelby, St. Clair, Wabash, Wayne, Washington, White, Williamson, and Union.
With Vaughan's appointment, the court's balance remains 5-2 Republican (John Barberis, Mark Boie, James Moore, Vaughan and Thomas Welch) to Democrat (Judy Cates and Milton Wharton).
The Illinois Supreme Court announced last week that Wharton would be reappointed as justice to fill the vacancy created by the election of Overstreet to the Supreme Court. Wharton, who retired as a circuit judge in St. Clair County in 2012, filled a vacancy on the Fifth District due to the retirement of justice Melissa Chapman (Democrat) from November 2019 until earlier this month. The Chapman vacancy was decided in the November election in a contest between Boie, who won, and Madison County Circuit Judge Sarah Smith.
Wharton's appointment to the Overstreet vacancy will continue through Dec. 5, 2022, when it will be filled by the winner of the November 2022 general election.