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1347.773 'ADMI 1995 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE i h < 00 > 1=1 H h=N COURTS ILLINOIS <i Front Cover: "Law and Knowledge" by CharlesJ. Mulligan (1866-1916)One oftwo statues facing visitorsas theyenter the main (north)entrance to the -Supreme Court Building in Springfield. Born in Ireland. Mr. Mulligan arrived in Chicago in 1872 with his father James, where both obtained employment at the Pullman Car Works. He got his start as a sculptor by modeling clay dug from the Illinois & Michigan Canal, later working as a marble-cutter in Chicago. He studied under Lorado Taft at the Art Institute ofChicago and Alexander lalcuiere in Paris. France. He succeeded Tail as the head ofthe department ofsculpture at the Institute and served in that role until his death Some ofhis other works appear in Humboldt Park. Chicago ("Miner's Love ofHome and Family")'. Garfield Park. Chicago ("Lincoln As a Railsplitter" and his statue ofJohn F. Finnerty). the Lincoln monument in Oak Wood Cemetery,Chicago. Riverview Park. Quincy(GeneralGeorge RogersClark statue): and Roscmond GroveCemetery. Rosamond ("Lincoln the Orator"). "Law and Knowledge"and the other statue "Justice and Power" were completed sometime between 1908 and 1910. Drawing by William H. Crook, a talented Springfield artist whose drawing of the Supreme Court Building appeared on *he inside front cover of the 1993 AdministrativeSummary. 3 1995 IN REVIEW 2- <. ffective the first of the year. Judge Daniel R. Pascale fi he record keeping system of the circuit (trial) courts. was appointed by the Supreme Court of Illinois as H!originally established in 1971, was enhanced director of the Administrative Office of the Illinois considerably during the year. Seven new case Courts. Judge Pascale was previously appointed to the Cook categories (adoption, arbitration, juvenile abuse and neglect, County Circuit Court in December 1990 and was assigned to juvenile delinquent, order of protection, contempt of court, thejuvenile court prior to his appointment as Administrative and driving under the influence) were approved by the Director. supreme court to go into effect January 1, 1996 Statistics for the new categories will be available in the 1996 The high court also appointed Joseph A. Schillaci as Statistical Summary produced by the Administrative Office Deputy Director ofthe Administrative Office. Mr. Schillaci A new database system was also implemented to produce was the Executive Assistant to the Supreme Court ofIllinois reports. In addition, a revisedManual on Recordkeeping was prior to his appointment as deputy director. Previously, Mr. prepared with the assistance ofcircuit clerks throughout the Schillaci had served as Administrative Supervisor of the state and distributed to chiefcircuitjudges and circuit clerks Appellate Court of Illinois, First District, the state's largest Training sessions for circuit clerks and their staffon the use ofthe manual were conducted at several locations around the district. state during the year. ach January the Supreme Court Rules Committee holds a public hearing to discuss proposed rules and he Appellate Court of Illinois received a new amendments to rules governing the operation of the calendaring and docketing system which replaced the mainframe system used for twelve years The new state's court system. In addition to the January hearing, the committee held hearings in February and again in June. The system provides greater flexibility in selecting and reporting information. In addition, personal computers in the five February hearing provided for public input on proposed districts ofthe court were upgraded to 486's and attached to amendments to the civil discovery rules. The June hearing local and wide area networks thus providing court personnel considered several proposals concerning Rule 721 which with a statewide network through which they can share and governs legal professional service corporations and exchange information. associations. Hearings were well attended and numerous people testified. nder sponsorship of the Illinois Judicial Conference Committee on Education, the AOIC created a Resource weeping changes were made during the year to the rules Lending Library of written, audio, and visual of the supreme court governing civil discovery instructional resources covering a wide range ofcourt-related procedures. These reforms, effective the first of topics for use by all judges During 1995, twenty-three January 1996, are designed to streamline discovery percent of the judicial population utilized this service procedures, increase compliance with existing rules, and Popular selections ofjudges include seminar notebooks from eliminate loopholes and potential delay tactics that interfere pastjudicial education seminars and videotapes. with litigation and increase costs to the parties and the courts. CONTENTS nother improvement in the way trial courts operate was made in July when a new law was enacted which permits circuit courts to delegate authority to probation 1995 in Review 1 departments to apply structured intermediate sanctions for Annual Report to the General Assembly 2-3 technical violations ofcourt-ordered probation. Finances 4-5 Operations 6-7 his year marked the eighth year of operation for the Supreme Court 8-13 supreme court's mandatory arbitration program. Three Justices...8-9 new counties (Kane, Boone, and Will) were added to Support Staff, Statistics, Committees...JO-JJ thesix counties with operating programs: Winnebago County Judicial Conference Committee Activities...J2-J (1987). DuPage County (1989), Lake County (1989), Cook Appellate Court 14-19 County (1990). McHenry County (1991). and St. Clair Overview & Five Year Trends...14 County (1994). This alternative to the courtroom process for First District...15 civil lawsuits reduces court congestion, costs and delays for Second, Third, Fourth & Fifth Districts...16-19 litigants, and emotional distress of litigants. Arbitration Circuit Courts 20-35 hearings, conducted by a panel of three specially trained Overview & Five Year Trends...20-21 attorney-arbitrators, are usually completed in about two Circuit Court ofCook County...22-23 hours with the decisionrendered the same day. First through Twenty-First Circuits...24-35 Administrative Office 36 ILLINOISSTATELIBRARY 3 1129 00768 217 2 1995 ANNUAL REPORT TO THE EIGHTY- A tate-Funded Retirement Systems. In 1994 the general assembly approved legislation to begin to address the serious problem ofthe under funding ofthe five state-financed retirement systems The legislature took the significant step ofestablishing a long term solution to achieve a 90% funding ratio N by the end ofstate fiscal year 2045 This plan also commits the state to continuing appropriations ofthe required contributions to the general assembly, judges, state employees, state universities, and state teachers1 retirement systems. N The general assembly is to be commended for addressing this ongoing problem However, the Auditor General recently reported that unfunded liabilities for the five state-financed U retirement systems grew by $2.48 billion last year, to a record $19.5 billion. Because ofthe continuing difficulties related to these systems, the general assembly is strongly urged to accelerate the schedule for reaching actuarial soundness. A STATE OF ILLINOIS ncrease State Funding for Death Row and Other AUG. 26, 1818 Criminal Appeals. The general assembly in the past has & recognized the importance ofproviding adequate resources to assure fair and timely handling ofappeals from convictions of capital and other felony defendants I^ In 1989, the general assembly enacted legislation and provided funding to create the Capital Resource Center in the Office ofthe State Appellate Defender. Consistent with procedures established by our court, the resource center is appointed in all Illinois death penalty cases after a defendant's conviction and ^^^^^^^^^^^^^™^™^™^™ sentence have been affirmed on direct appeal. The quality of 1 representation from the resource center attorneys has been high and delays in death penalty cases have been reduced "The Supreme Court shall provide by rulefor an annua/ The resource center's current year $1.1 million budget is funded judicialconference to consider in large part by $680,000 of federal funds The balance of the work of the courts and to $420,000 was appropriated by the general assembly. Now it E suggest improvements in the appears certain that part, if not all, ofthe federal funding will be I administration ofjustice and eliminated This federal cut-back puts the Illinois Capital Resource shallreport thereon annually in Center in seriousjeopardy. P writing to the General Unless increased funds are approved by the general assembly Assembly not later than for the resource center, we face a return to a situation where death January 31." Article VI, Section row inmates will have inexperienced counsel, or be without O 17, Illinois Constitution. counsel; substantial errors will go unchallenged, and additional delays in an already protracted post-conviction process will result. Chief Justice Michael A. Bilandic Moreover, the financial burden ofpost-conviction appeals will fall transmitted thisreporttothe President on Illinois counties. of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives on January Not only will this burden be shifted to the counties, but the 31, 1996. ultimate costs to taxpayers will increase. A recent report by the Judicial Conference ofthe United States found that post-conviction ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^_ defender organizations (such as the resource center) improve the VIrW*K quality of representation and help control the costs of providing that representation The report found that in every state such defender organization attorneys cost less per hour than the average hourly rate ofappointed counsel who request compensation. In addition, such organizations foster continuity ofcounsel, which was found to be a key feature ofa cost-effective system. (Report on DeathPenalty Representation, Subcommittee on Death Penalty Representation, Committee on Defender Services, Judicial Conference ofthe United States, June 1995 at page 7.) NINTH ILLINOIS GENERAL ASSEMBLY The lack ofresources for appeals by other criminal defendants has also become a critical problem. The general assembly took a constructive step to address this problem in 1994. At that time, funds were appropriated to restore attorneys to the staff of the Office of the State Appellate Defender. However, this improvement was not fully maintained for the current fiscal year. A comparison ofthe staffing levels ofthe State Appellate Defender with the trend in cases to which the office is appointed shows a sharp contrast. For fiscal year 1990 the office had 72 attorneys assigned to appellate court cases; currently there are only 60. During the same 6-year period the number of new cases to which the office was appointed on an annual basis increased from 1,593 to 2,211. This means that the number of attorneys decreased by 17% while the number of new appeals assigned annually increased by 39%. The consequence of these diverging trends is that the period oftime needed for appellate defender attorneys to file a briefon a new case has lengthened from about 1 1 months to the current 19 months. The Federal District Court of Northern Illinois has determined that such lengthy delays deny due process to indigent defendants represented by the State Appellate Defender and the Cook County Public Defender in the first district of the appellate court. (U.S. ex rel. Green v. Peters, No. 93 C 7300. U.S. Dist. Ct.. N.D. 111.) Further action by the district court on this matter is anticipated in the near future. As noted in my message to the general assembly in January 1994. under-staffing of criminal appeals often leads to more retrials and appeals claiming violation of constitutional rights because of "ineffective assistance ofcounsel." We urge the general assembly to renew its commendable previous efforts to restore the number of attorneys for the State Appellate Defender to levels sufficient to provide fair and prompt representation on criminal appeals. emodeling of the Waterways Building to Serve as a Courthouse for the Appellate Court of the Fourth Judicial District. The 1988 Capitol Complex Plan included renovation ofthe Waterways Building, located on Monroe Street between First and College Streets in Springfield, for use by the appellate court ofthe fourth judicial district. Funds have been appropriated to remodel the building, and initial design work has been completed. However, the project has not progressed beyond the design stage because ofthe state's fiscal priorities. The general assembly is requested to continue appropriating funds for the renovation ofthe Waterways Building. Relocatingthe fourth district from the Supreme Court Building to the new location would serve the dual purposes of providing the fourth district with the space necessary to accommodate its needs, while making much needed additional space available in the Supreme Court Building to address the space needs ofthe supreme court. ertain Provisions of the Private Detective, Private Alarm and Private Security Act are Unconstitutional. In Church v. Illinois, 164 111. 2d 153, (1995), our court found that section 14(c) (11) (C) of the Private Detective, Private Alarm, and Private Security Act (225 ILCS 455/14 (c) (11) (C)) establishes an unconstitutional licensing scheme for private alarm contractors. This provision is now codified at 225 ILCS 446/75 (c) (8). We found that this section confers upon members ofa regulated industry a monopolistic right to instruct and control entry into the private alarm contracting trade. We further found that the experience requirements set forth in this section are not calculated or necessary to enhance the expertise ofprospective licensees. If the general assembly determines that the interests of the state need to be addressed in this situation, the Supreme Court encourages the general assembly to cure this statute's constitutional defect. 1 STATE AND LOCAL FUNDING FOR THE COURTS Financing the state court system is a shared responsibility of the state and 102 counties Revenue to provide court services to the people ofthe state comes from a variety ofsources: the state income tax. county property taxes, case filing fees, court fines and assessments, and other fees. gc tate government pays for the salaries, benefits, and State funding for probation departments currently 59 office expenses of supreme and appellate court covers over 2.200 probation personnel Counties are judges, and salaries and benefits of circuit court judges reimbursed for all salaries of approximately 1/3 of this Effective July 1. 1995.judicial salaries, as determined by number, with the rest reimbursed at the rate of $1,000 F the legislature were: supreme court justices. $122,892; per month State funding presently provides for about appellate court judges. $115,663; circuit court judges. 30% ofthe total cost ofprobation services in the state $106,137; and associate judges, $98,909. The state also pays for support staff of supreme and appellate court ^=*- ounty governments pay part of the cost of =3 judges, staff in support units of the supreme and financing circuit court operations Counties I appellate courts, court reporters and a small number of provide office and courtroom space, maintenance, and N other personnel in the circuit courts, and mandatory support staff to assist the circuit court judges Circuit arbitration staff in several counties. Part of the cost of clerks collect money to help pay for their operations and operating the mandatory arbitration program is offset by some circuit court operations. They also collect and fees paid by participants in the program. During 1995. disburse revenues to help fund local and state A the arbitration fees collected amounted to $2,582,156. government programs, as summarized on the next page. STATE FUNDING N The pie chart below shows the supreme court's share ofthe total appropriations for fiscal year 1996 (July 1, 1995 to June 30. 1996). Thetotal recommendedappropriation was $33,035,788,000. Therecommendedappropriation for thecourts was $215,595.100 C Recommended Appropriations for State Agencies Fiscal Year 1996 E ExecutiveAgencies 65.3% - Courts 0.6% OtherAgencies 7.9% LegislativeAgencies 0.2% Elected Officials 3.0% Education 23.0% Source: Table I-A: Appropriationsby Agency, Chapter 1 Governor's BudgetMessage totheGeneral Assembly for Fiscal Year 1996 LOCAL FUNDING The circuit clerk's office in each county provides a variety of court recordkeeping and financial accounting services Circuit clerks are elected for four-year terms by the voters in each county. Circuit clerks, with help from deputy clerks, attend sessions of the court, preserve court files and papers, and maintain complete records of all cases. Employees of the clerks' offices are appointed by and are accountable to the circuit clerk, with the county board having budgetary authority. During 1994, the total number offull-time employees in all 102 circuit clerk offices was 3,796. assisted by a total of 241 part-time employees. The cost ofoperating all circuit clerks' offices totaled $120,828,250 in 1995. Revenue to pay for these court-related services comes primarily from property taxes, filing fees, and court-ordered fines Fees and other costs collected by circuit clerks are regulatedmostly by statute and supreme court rule. REVENUE TO FINANCE LOCAL IMPROVEMENTS Fees and court-ordered fines were collected in 1995 by circuit clerks and earmarked for improvements in the clerks' offices and to help defray the cost to the county ofoperating the courts at the local level. Court Document Court Automation County Law Library County Financial Storage Fund Fund Fund Assistance is used to establish and is used to establish and helps defray the costs of is available from fees maintain electronic or maintain automated maintaining a law library collected by circuit clerks micrographic document systems for keeping court in the county for judges, to help finance the court storage systems in the records. attorneys, and the public system in the county clerk's office. $11,471,672 $4,665,594 $7,205,447 $9,841,690 REVENUE TO FINANCE OTHER PROGRAMS In addition to collecting fees for local improvements, circuit clerks receive, account for. and distribute millions of dollars to county governments, various local governmental entities, and various state funds. Some of the programs and dollars collected in 1995 by circuit clerks are listed below: Youth Drug Abuse Prevention: 12.5% of the court-ordered drug fines and forfeitures go to the Department of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse to financeprograms and services fordrug-abuse treatment, andprevention andeducation services for juveniles. $293,295 Drug Traffic Prevention: A percentage ofcourt-ordered drug fines collected goes to local and state law enforcement agencies for use in the enforcementoflaws regulatingcontrolled substances andcannabis. $206,774 Drug Treatment Fund: Court-ordered assessments used to pay for treatment programs for people addicted to alcohol, cannabis, or controlled substances. $1,642,860 Violent Crime Victims Assistance: Court fines areusedto supportvictims' assistance centers throughoutthe state. $4,278,066 Domestic Violence Shelter and Service: Court fines go to the Department ofPublic Aid or non-profit corporations to administer shelters and service programs foradults andtheirdependents whoare the subjects ofdomestic violence. $263,819 Sexual Assault Services: Court fines are used to award grants to organizations providing community-based services tovictims ofsexual assault. $987,091 Child Supportand Maintenance DUI Education: Fees are placed in the county general fund and used to finance education During 1995, circuit clerks collected and distributed $507,951,284 for child programs relatedtodrivingundertheinfluenceofalcohol ordrugs. $74,413 support and maintenance — an increase of5.4% over 1994. Driver Education Fund: Fines are used for driver education programs in high schools. $3,878,473 CASEFLOW The path a case may follow in the process from start to finish can be complicated The diagram below demonstrates, in llinois has had a unified court system since 1964. In that year, general terms, how cases proceed through the state court system. The path a case voters approved an amendment to the 1870 constitution which may follow in the process from start to made major changes in the system. finish can be complicated. The diagram below demonstrates, in general terms, how Prior to 1964. the court system was confusing The courts of cases proceed through the state court o system. originaljurisdiction had some concurrent and overlappingjurisdiction, and each court operated independently ofthe others The old system had a circuit court with state-wide originaljurisdiction in all cases and SUPREME COURT with some appellate jurisdiction; a Superior Court of Cook County p having concurrentjurisdiction with the Circuit Court ofCook County: certaincasesfromappellate the Criminal Court ofCook County also having concurrentjurisdiction courtorcircuitcourts with the Circuit Court of Cook County but limited to criminal cases; reviewsdeathsentences a county court in each county with special jurisdiction that partially E 3,346 newcasesfiled in 1995 overlapped that ofthe circuit court; a probate court in certain counties with special jurisdiction; statutory municipal, city, town and village courts, with jurisdiction overlapping that of the circuit court; and justice of the peace and police magistrate courts with limited jurisdiction By 1962. for example. Cook County alone had 208 courts: A APPELLATE COURT circuit court, superior court, family court, criminal court, probate court, county court, twenty-four city, village, town and municipal courts, fivedistricts seventy-five justice of the peace courts, and 103 police magistrate appealsfromcircuitsand industrialcommission courts. T mayreviewcasesfrom administrativeagencies In addition, there were seven supreme court districts numbered 9,01 newcasesfiled in 1995 from south to north. There were four appellate court districts v^ numbered from north to south. For example, the first supreme court district was in part ofthe fourth appellate court district and the seventh I supreme court district was in a part ofthe first appellate court district. O i|| n today's system, as shown on N CIRCUIT COURT ARBITRATION PANELS 1*1the left, there are three levels of courts: circuit, appellate, and 22circuitsfor 102counties panelsof3attorneys-impartial supreme, all operating within findersoffactand law 1 to 12countiespercircuit clearly defined geographical hearsmostcases lawsuitsof$15,000orlessin boundaries There arc twenty-two St ClairCounty, $30,000or over4million newcasesfiled lessin Boone, Cook, DuPage, circuit courts called courts of in 1995 WKainnen.ebLaakgeo,CMocuHnetnireys, Willand original jurisdiction which are located in one of five appellate ^ / court districts Cases enter circuit court via the circuit clerk's office in a county ofthe circuit Cases may be appealed to the appellate court in the district containing the circuit court, or. in limited circumstances. directly to the supreme court After an appellate court decision, parties CIRCUIT CLERK to the case may seek discretionary review by the supreme court. Supreme-appellate district and circuit maps arc found in their oneclerkpercounty(102) casesenterthecourtsystem respective sections ofthis publication. inthisoffice court'sofficial recordkeeper collectsfines, fees, andcosts, distributesfundstovarious agencies JUDICIAL BRANCH ADMINISTRATION Supreme Court The Supreme Court ofIllinois, in addition to being the state's highest court, Judicial Inquiry Board is responsible for the state's unified court system of twenty-two trial courts, one Thesupremecourtappointstwocircuitjudgestothe appellate court with five districts, and several supporting units. General board (the governor also appoints four non-lawyers and three lawyers) which receives and investigates administrative and supervisory authority over the court system is vested in the complaints against judges and prosecutes the supreme court. Several advisory bodies assist with this mission by making vCaolmimdaitsesdioncomplaint before the Illinois Courts recommendations to the court. These include, but are not limited to, the Judicial Conference of Illinois, Supreme Court Rules Committee. Administrative Illinois Courts Commission Committee ofthe Appellate Court ofIllinois, and the Conference ofChiefCircuit Thecommissionconsistsofasupremecourtjustice, Judges. More information about these committees can be found in the following two circuit judges selected by the supreme court, and two appellate court judges selected by the sections. The supreme court also makes appointments to other committees, appellate court. The commission hears complaints commissions, and boards as listed on the right. brought by the Judicial Inquiry Board and can disciplineajudgeorremoveajudgefrom office The chief justice is responsible for exercising the court's general Board ofAdmissions tothe Bar administrative and supervisory authority in accordance with the court's rules. The The supreme court establishes rules and standards Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts assists the chief justice with this for the education, testing, and admission of law school graduates to the practice of law in the state responsibility. and appoints seven attorneys to sit on the board The board oversees the process of admitting law schoolgraduatestothepracticeoflaw. Key support personnel exist at each level ofcourt to assistjudges with the administration ofjustice. At the supreme court level, this includes the Clerk ofthe Committee on Characterand Fitness Supreme Court, Research Director, Marshal, and Supreme Court Librarian and their The supreme court appoints attorneys to a staffs. Each support unit is described on page ten. committee in each of the five judicial districts to evaluate the moral character and general fitness of applicantstopracticelaw Appellate Court AttorneyRegistrationand DisciplinaryCommission At the appellate court level, the presiding judge and judges of each The supreme court establishes rules for the registration and discipline of attorneys and appoints appellate district are assisted by a clerk ofthe appellate court and research director four lawyers and three nonlawyers to the and their staffs appointed by the appellatejudges. The clerk manages the day-to- commission which oversees the registration and disciplinaryprocess day operations ofthe district. Appeals enter the clerk's office, where deputy clerks assign them filing schedules and actively monitor and review cases as they progress StateAppellate Defender through record preparation, motions, briefing, and oral arguments. Problems such The supreme court appoints the State Appellate as late filings,jurisdictional defects, inadequate records or noncompliant briefs are Defender and two members of the State Appellate Defender Commission. Each appellate court district referred to the court. After the court has heard an appeal, the clerk's office issues appoints one member to the Commission (the the court's decision and tracks all post-decision activity. The clerk also manages governorappointstwomembers) the court's computerized and manual recordkeeping system and oversees the Board ofTrustees ofthe Judges' maintenance ofphysical facilities. Acting as the court's liaison with the pubic, the RetirementSystem clerk responds to requests and questions concerning the court's cases and The supreme court appoints three judges to the procedures. The research director oversees a staff of attorneys and secretaries Board ofTrusteesoftheJudges' Retirement System providing centralized legal research services tojudges. andthechiefjusticeisanex-officiomember Circuit Court A circuit court is administered by a chiefjudge who is selected by circuit court judges. The chiefjudge is assisted by an administrative assistant and/or trial court administrator and other support staff. The number ofcounties in each circuit "General administrative and supervisory currently range from one to twelve. In each county, voters elect a circuit clerk for authority over all courts is vested in the a four year term. Circuit clerks, with help from deputy clerks hired by the circuit Supreme Court andshall beexercised by clerk, attend sessions of the court, preserve court files and papers, maintain the Chief Justice in accordance with its complete records of all cases, and maintain records of money received and rules. The Supreme Court shall appoint disbursed. an administrativedirectorand staff,who shall serve at its pleasure, to assist the Chief Justice in his duties." ArtVI, Sect16, ILConstitution THE JUSTICES OF u p IllinoisSupremeCourtBuilding,Springfield Drawingby WilliamH. Crook Michael A. Bilandic ChiefJustice E M Justice Miller received a Juris Doctor degree from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. He was in the private practice oflaw from 1961-1976. In 1976, he was appointed a circuit judge in the seventh circuit by the supreme court and was elected to that position in 1978. He served as circuit E judge and chiefcircuitjudge until 1982, when he was elected to the appellate court, fourth district. He served on the appellate court until 1984, when he was elected to the supreme court, serving as chiefjustice from January 1, 1991 until the end of 1993. Benjamin K. Miller C Justice Freeman received a Juris Doctor degree from John Marshall Law School. Early in his career he served as an assistant attorney general, assistant state's attorney, and an attorney for the Board ofElection Commissioners. He O was in the private practice oflaw from 1962 to 1976. In 1976, he was elected a circuitjudge in Cook County where he served for ten years. He was elected to the appellate court in 1986 and to the supreme court in 1990 from the first U district. Justice Freeman is the first African-American to serve on the supreme court. Charles E. Freeman Justice McMorrow received her law degree from Loyola University, Chicago. Prior to being elected a circuit judge in Cook County in 1976, she was T engaged in the private practice oflaw and later appointed an assistant state's attorney of Cook County, assigned to the criminal division. She was appointed to the appellate court, first district by the supreme court in 1985 and won election to that post in 1986. She was elected to the supreme court in 1992, the first woman to serve on the state's highest court. Mary Ann G. McMorrow