Appellate Court Judge Holder White to replace Garman, become first Black woman on Illinois Supreme Court

CHICAGO (CBS) -- The Illinois Supreme Court has appointed Fourth District Appellate Court Justice Lisa Holder White to fill retiring Justice Rita Garman's seat after she steps down in July.

White will become the first Black woman to serve on the state's highest court.

"Being appointed to the Illinois Supreme Court is the honor of a lifetime. I am humbled by the confidence Justice Rita B. Garman and the entire Court have placed in me," Holder White said in a statement. "My service to the judiciary for the past 21 years has helped prepare me for this historic moment. I look forward to the privilege of resolving matters my fellow citizens bring before the Court."  

Garman announced her plan to retire on Monday, and she will step down effective July 7. 

"There is no doubt that I have had the role of a lifetime, a privilege to serve the people of the state of Illinois as a member of the court system at every level," Garman said in a statement. "But this is the right time for me to step back from my public role and allow someone else to assume this allimportant position. Thank you for the opportunity to serve the citizens of Illinois."  

Holder White will begin her term the next day, and will remain in the seat until Dec. 2, 2024, when the seat will be filled after the 2024 election.

Holder White has been a judge at various levels since 2001, when she was sworn in as an associate judge in the state's Sixth Judicial Circuit, which includes Champaign, DeWitt, Douglas, Macon, Moultrie and Piatt counties, becoming the circuit's first Black judge. In 2008, she became a circuit judge, and in 2013 was sworn in as the first Black justice on the Fourth District Illinois Appellate Court.

Before becoming a judge, she served as both a prosecutor and public defender in Macon County.

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• Illinois Supreme Court