Press Release |
Cook County Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans today announced the appointment of Judge Shelley Sutker-Dermer as Presiding Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County’s Second Municipal District effective October 1, 2003. Currently a Criminal Division supervising judge in the Second Municipal District courthouse in Skokie, Judge Sutker-Dermer will succeed Presiding Judge Nancy Sidote Salyers who has accepted an appointment as a clinical professor with the University of Illinois School of Social Work’s Children and Family Research Center.
"Judge Sutker-Dermer is a hard working and intelligent judge whose energy and enthusiasm create a galvanizing force in her courtroom. She will put that drive, along with well established administrative skills developed in her current assignment, to good use in heading the Second Municipal District," said Chief Judge Evans. "She will surely make an outstanding Presiding Judge."
Chief Judge Evans praised retiring Judge Nancy Sidote Salyers saying, "The court is indebted to Judge Salyers for her many years of service to the citizens of Cook County. She brought national distinction to the court with her innovative administration of the Child Protection Division." Chief Judge Evans continued, "The public is fortunate that she will continue to use her extensive knowledge and formidable expertise to work to improve the lives of children and families."
A judge for eight years, Judge Sutker-Dermer was first appointed a circuit judge in 1995 and later elected a circuit judge in 1996. Following her appointment in 1995, she was assigned to the Traffic Division of the First Municipal District. In April 1996, she was assigned to a Criminal Division courtroom in the Second Municipal District hearing Chicago felony cases, continuing in that assignment up to the present time. In fall 2000, Judge Sutker-Dermer was appointed supervising judge overseeing the four Chicago felony trial courtrooms in the Skokie courthouse.
Prior to becoming a judge, Judge Sutker-Dermer was a career prosecutor in the Office of the Cook County State’s Attorney. She began in 1983 and served in the Traffic Division, the Municipal Division, and the Felony Trial Division. While in the Felony Trial Division, Sutker-Dermer was specially assigned to the Child Sexual Exploitation Unit/Mass Molestation Unit.
Before taking the bench, Judge Sutker-Dermer also was elected to a number of positions for the Village of Skokie. She served with distinction in those positions without compensation. Those positions included Skokie Cable Commission member from 1984 to 1986; Skokie Park District Commissioner from 1989 to 1995; and vice president and chairman of the Skokie Park District Finance Committee from 1993 to 1995.
Judge Sutker-Dermer received her J.D from the Chicago-Kent College of Law at the Illinois Institute of Technology in 1982, and her B.A. from the University of Illinois in Champaign in 1979. She also attended the International Law Summer Course at the London School of Economics in 1981. She is a life-long resident of Skokie.
Judge Sutker-Dermer said, "I am honored and humbled by the confidence Chief Judge Evans has shown me by appointing me Presiding Judge of the Second Municipal District."
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