PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Chief Judge Evans appoints Judge Thomas F. Carmody, Jr. as Presiding Judge of the Fifth Municipal District

Released On 08/01/2006

Circuit Court of Cook County Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans today announced the appointment of Judge Thomas F. Carmody, Jr. as Presiding Judge of the court’s Fifth Municipal District, effective today, August 1, 2006.

A 14-year veteran of the bench who has served his entire judicial career assigned to the Fifth Municipal District courthouse in Bridgeview, Judge Carmody, 54, succeeds Judge Anthony S. Montelione, who retired July 31, 2006.

"Judge Carmody brings proven administrative skills to this new position, honed first in the Cook County Public Defender’s Office and then later in serving as Acting Presiding Judge of the Fifth Municipal District," said Chief Judge Evans. "He possesses a broad breadth of judicial experience, having served in both the felony criminal and civil divisions, and is equally knowledgeable about the southwest suburban municipalities that make up that district of the court.

"I have every confidence that Judge Carmody will do an outstanding job as presiding judge," Chief Judge Evans added.

Judge Carmody was first elected a circuit judge in 1992, and was immediately assigned to the Fifth Municipal District where, from 1992 to 2000, he heard felony criminal cases. With the conferring of Law Division jurisdiction in December 2000, Judge Carmody began hearing civil suits, including cases for recovery of monetary damages in excess of $100,000. Beginning in 2001 by order of then Presiding Judge Montelione, Judge Carmody served as Acting Presiding Judge when the occasion required, overseeing 18 judges.

In addition to presiding over numerous high profile cases, Judge Carmody has served on a Circuit Court committee established to coordinate judicial efforts to curb driving while under the influence. He also co-authored the DUI Network manual used by judges and attorneys.

Prior to becoming a judge of the Circuit Court, Judge Carmody was a career assistant public defender who rose through the ranks of the Office of the Cook County Public Defender. From 1977 to 1985, he was an assistant public defender assigned to the felony courts. From 1985 to 1987, he served simultaneously as a trial attorney with the office’s elite Murder Task Force, trying murder charges and death penalty cases, and also as the office’s Assistant Director of Training, establishing a trial advocacy program.

In 1987, Judge Carmody was appointed Deputy Director of the Cook County Public Defender’s Office in the Sixth Municipal District in Markham where he supervised 18 attorneys while maintaining a full case load of murder and death penalty cases. In 1990, he was appointed Director of the Cook County Public Defender’s Office in the Fifth Municipal District where he remained until his election as a circuit judge, supervising 17 attorneys and overseeing all operations of that office while maintaining a limited case load of murder and death penalty cases.

Also, from 1988 to 1990, Judge Carmody was a faculty member of the National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA).

Judge Carmody received his J.D. from The John Marshall Law School in 1976, and his B.S. from the University of Dayton, Dayton, Ohio, in 1973.

Judge Carmody said, "I have had the opportunity to work with one of the most respected presiding judges of the Circuit Court. I am honored to follow Judge Montelione as presiding judge, and even more honored that Chief Judge Evans has given me the opportunity to serve him and the citizens of Cook County as the Fifth District’s presiding judge."

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