United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois

The United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois (in case citations, C.D. Ill.) serves the residents of forty-six counties, which are divided into four divisions. The counties are: Adams, Brown, Bureau, Cass, Champaign, Christian, Coles, DeWitt, Douglas, Edgar, Ford, Fulton, Greene, Hancock, Henderson, Henry, Iroquois, Kankakee, Knox, Livingston, Logan, McDonough, McLean, Macoupin, Macon, Marshall, Mason, Menard, Mercer, Montgomery, Morgan, Moultrie, Peoria, Piatt, Pike, Putnam, Rock Island, Sangamon, Schuyler, Scott, Shelby, Stark, Tazewell, Vermilion, Warren, and Woodford counties. The courthouses for the Central District's four divisions are in Peoria, Rock Island, Springfield, and Urbana. In 2018, all court operations for the Rock Island District were moved to the federal courthouse in Davenport, Iowa, due to uninhabitable conditions at the Rock Island courthouse. Appeals are taken to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appealed to the Federal Circuit). As of January 3, 2025, the acting United States attorney is Gregory M. Gilmore. History The United States District Court for the District of Illinois was established by a statute passed by the United States Congress on March 3, 1819, 3 Stat. 502. The act established a single office for a judge to preside over the court. Initially, the court was not within any existing judicial circuit, and appeals from the court were taken directly to the United States Supreme Court. In 1837, Congress created the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, placing it in Chicago, Illinois and giving it jurisdiction over the District of Illinois, 5 Stat. 176. On February 13, 1855, by 10 Stat. 606, the District of Illinois was subdivided into Northern and the Southern Districts. An Eastern District was created on March 3, 1905, by 33 Stat. 992, by splitting counties out of the Northern and Southern Districts. It was later eliminated in a reorganization on October 2, 1978, which replaced it with the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois District, 92 Stat. 883. The newly created Central District was formed primarily from parts of the Southern District, and returned some counties to the Northern District. Some judges from both the Eastern and Southern Districts were transferred to the Central District by operation of law. Current judges As of March 12, 2026: Former judges Chief judges Chief judges have administrative responsibilities with respect to their district court. Unlike the Supreme Court, where one justice is specifically nominated to be chief, the office of chief judge rotates among the district court judges. To be chief, a judge must have been in active service on the court for at least one year, be under the age of 65, and have not previously served as chief judge. A vacancy is filled by the judge highest in seniority among the group of qualified judges. The chief judge serves for a term of seven years, or until age 70, whichever occurs first. The age restrictions are waived if no members of the court would otherwise be qualified for the position. When the office was created in 1948, the chief judge was the longest-serving judge who had not elected to retire, on what has since 1958 been known as senior status, or declined to serve as chief judge. After August 6, 1959, judges could not become or remain chief after turning 70 years old. The current rules have been in operation since October 1, 1982. Succession of seats U.S. Attorneys Gerald D. Fines 1977–86 J. William Roberts 1986–93 Byron G. Cudmore 1993 Frances C. Hulin 1993–2002 Jan Paul Miller 2002–2005 Rodger A. Heaton 2005–2009 Jeffrey B. Lang 2009–2010 James A. Lewis 2010–2016 John C. Milhiser 2018–2021 Gregory K. Harris 2021–2025 See also Courts of Illinois List of current United States district judges List of United States federal courthouses in Illinois References External links United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois Directory of Judges Archived 2012-04-15 at the Wayback Machine General Services Administration pages about buildings: Peoria Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse Paul Findley Federal Building & U.S. Courthouse in Springfield U.S. Courthouse, Urbana