The White House announced earlier this month that Cook County Circuit Court Judge Diane M. Shelley has been appointed Regional Administrator of Region 5 of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Judge Shelley was elected to the bench in 2006 and was serving in the Commercial Calendar Section of the Law Division at the time of her appointment.
A Commissioner of the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism, Shelley has also served as President of the Illinois Judges Association and as Chair of the Illinois Judicial Council. Shelley is also a member of the Special Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Justice and Mental Health Planning. She received the Chicago Bar Association's Dickerson Award in 2020.
Judge Shelley's appointment as HUD Regional Administrator creates a new 5th Subcircuit vacancy to be filled in the 2022 election... at least it might create a 5th Subcircuit vacancy... depending on whether or not the Legislature rams through a new Subcircuit map for 2022 (and depending on whether any such last minute renewal is upheld in the courts).