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Illinois Supreme Court appoints Associate Judge Heuerman as Circuit Court Judge in 14th Circuit | State of Illinois Office of the Illinois Courts

Illinois Supreme Court appoints Associate Judge Heuerman as Circuit Court Judge in 14th Circuit

1/30/2024

Justice Lisa Holder White and the Illinois Supreme Court have announced the appointment of Associate Judge James F. Heuerman as a Circuit Judge for the 14th Judicial Circuit Court.

Judge Heuerman is being appointed to fill the circuit court vacancy created by the upcoming retirement of 14th Circuit Judge Stanley Steines on December 31, 2023. The appointment of Judge Heuerman is effective January 2, 2024, and will conclude December 2, 2024, following the November 2024 general election. Judge Heuerman is the only candidate who has filed for nomination in the March primary election. He would then be unopposed by a party candidate in either the primary or general elections.

Judge Heuerman has served on the bench in the 14th Circuit as an Associate Judge since being appointed in 2019. He served as Public Defender in Whiteside County from 2011 to 2019 and was a founding member of the Whiteside County Drug Court team. From 2005 to 2011 he was an Assistant State’s Attorney in the Whiteside County State’s Attorney’s Office, prosecuting cases ranging from traffic misdemeanors to first degree murder. From 1993 to 2002 he worked in private practice at Pignatelli, Liston & Mertes and Coplan and Heuerman, and served part-time as Assistant Public Defender in Whiteside County.

Judge Heuerman earned his Bachelor of Science from the University of Wisconsin and earned his Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the Northern Illinois University College of Law.

His professional affiliations include the Whiteside County Bar Association, where he was named Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year in 2000, and the Illinois State Bar Association.