This story is posted with a major caveat: When rumors reached me this afternoon that finalists for the current round of Cook County Assoicate Judge selection were being notified that they were on the fabled "Short List," I reached out to Mary Wisniewski, Director of Communications for the Office of Cook County Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans, for confirmation. She said she has nothing to share.
So this is unofficial. But I have two unrelated sources advising that there is a list, the finalists were notified today, and the kickoff meeting will be tomorrow.
Stay tuned. There will be more on this, one way or the other, very soon.
Assuming there is a Short List, this will be a pretty quick turnaound: There were 246 applicants for the current class back in February. That's barely six months. For comparison sake, it took good 13 months (from the close of applications on August 31, 2018) to the November 5, 2019 announcement of the finalists for the class selected in December 2019. Applicants selected for the short list announced on April 18, 2018 were in an application pool that closed 14 months earlier, on February 8, 2017. It was at least 13 months between the formation of the applicant pool in 2015 and the announcement of the Short List from that group on March 18, 2016.
Pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 39, there will be two finalists for every vacancy.