From Springfield: Justice Lloyd Karmeier is set to become the next Chief Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court, with his inaugural set for October 26, 2016. Justice Karmeier will replace Chief Justice Rita Garman, whose three-year term is ending.
Justice Karmeier is from Nashville, Illinois where he began his legal career. When he was a young boy, his family owned a farm that held remnants of the first Illinois Supreme Court building.
Justice Karmeier was first elected to the Illinois Supreme Court in 2004. He is a Republican and is generally viewed as a Justice that is sympathetic to those in the Illinois business community who feel the state is suffering from too many lawsuits.
Lloyd A. Karmeier was born January 12, 1940, in rural Washington County, where he attended a one-room grade school and graduated as valedictorian in 1958 from Okawville Community High School. He received his B.S. degree in 1962 and his J.D. degree in 1964, both from the University of Illinois.
Justice Karmeier clerked for former Illinois Supreme Court Justice Byron O. House from 1964 to 1968, served as state’s attorney of Washington County from 1968 to 1972, and clerked for former U.S. District Court Judge James L. Foreman from 1972 to 1973. He was engaged in the general practice of law with the firm of Hohlt, House, DeMoss & Johnson from 1964 to 1986. He was resident Circuit Judge of Washington County from 1986 to 2004, when he was elected to the Illinois Supreme Court.
Justice Karmeier is a member of the Illinois Judges’ Association, the Washington County, St. Clair County, East St. Louis and Illinois State Bar Associations, and past member of the American Bar Association and the American Judicature Society. He served as a member of the Assembly of the Illinois State Bar Association from 1996 to 2002, and as chair of the Bench and Bar Section Council. He also served on the Illinois Supreme Court Committee on Pattern Jury Instructions in Criminal Cases, chairing the committee from 2003 to 2004. He is a member of the Southern Illinois American Inn of Court and served as President of the Executive Committee from 2003 to 2007.
Justice Karmeier and his wife, Mary, reside in Nashville, Illinois. They have two children and six grandchildren.
