Madison County Circuit Judges Chris Threlkeld and Amy Sholar plan to seek election in the newly gerrymandered Subcircuit 1, after being carved out of contention through an act of the Democratically-controlled state legislature.
“On Wednesday, January 5, with a partisan roll call, without input from the judiciary, with only hours of notice, while most of Madison County was in pajamas, the Chicago machine passed legislation to change the way the voters in Madison County have selected judges for over 50 years,” their joint announcement stated.
Governor J.B. Pritzker signed the legislation on Friday.
Local lawmakers who voted in favor of the bill include Sen. Rachelle Crowe (D-Alton), Rep. Katie Stuart (D-Collinsville) and Rep. Jay Hoffman (D-Belleville).
Those who voted against include Sen. Jason Plummer (R-Vandalia), Rep. Amy Elik (R-Fosterburg) and Rep. Charlie Meier (R-Okawville).
In effect, the new law divides Madison County into three subcircuits with eight Madison County Judges among its three subcircuits. Bond County, also included in the Third Judicial Circuit, makes up a fourth subcircuit.
“As it’s clear eight isn’t divisible by three, one of the subcircuits – subcircuit 3 – only will have two judges elected from it – even though the three are equal in population,” their release states.
“So the eastern rural part of the county is being disenfranchised,” stated Sholar. “But despite this clear power grab, I am going to do what I promised to do the day I was sworn into office – I’m going to run for office and continue to work hard in family court and be fair and impartial.”
Judge Threlkeld added, “The judiciary is not a political playground. I will stay focused on continuing to be the best judge I can be for the residents of the 1st subcircuit, in the same way I have been focused on being the best judge I can be for all of the residents of Madison County.”
In addition to defining the subcircuit boundaries, the legislation stipulates the order in which judicial vacancies must be filled, starting with Subcircuit 1, where the first three circuit court vacancies of the Third Judicial Circuit will be allotted.
“This numbering deviates from the previous numerical order of all other subcircuits across the state and in reality means those in Subcircuit 3 may not vote for a judge again for years,” the release states.
Both Judges Threlkeld and Sholar were appointed to their seats by the Illinois Supreme Court and both had previously stated their intentions to run in the 2022 election. Until this change, they would have both been running countywide, allowing all the voters of Madison County to decide on who will be their Judge. In under a week, they both have had to find new residences within the subcircuit.
“Nothing about this bill changes our desire to be fair and decisive Judges in this County and we look forward to voters giving us that opportunity in November,” the judges stated jointly.