The Honorable Eugene Doherty (’89) was appointed by the Illinois Supreme Court to the Illinois Appellate Court, Fourth Judicial District, effective July 14, 2022. Judge Doherty is being assigned to fill the vacancy created by the elevation of Justice Holder
White to the Supreme Court.
Judge Doherty had served on the bench in the circuit court for the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit since 2007. He won election in 2008, retention in 2014 and 2020, and served as Chief Judge from 2018 to 2021.
Prior to joining the bench, Judge Doherty worked for 16 years as an attorney for Holmstrom & Kennedy, P.C. in Rockford. He had previously served as a Law Clerk for Second District Appellate Court Justice Philip G. Reinhard. Judge Doherty is a double Huskie having earned his Bachelor of Science from Northern Illinois University and his Juris Doctor, summa cum laude, from the Northern Illinois University College of Law in 1989.
Judge Doherty has served on several Illinois Supreme Court Committees, including as the current Chair of the e-Business Policy Board, as Vice-Chair of Court Operations During COVID-19 Task Force and Chairman of the Task Force’s Evictions Subcommittee, and as a member of the Weighted Caseload Task Force and the Statutory Court Fees Task Force. During his time as Chief Judge in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, he served as Chairman for the Technology Committee and the Supreme Court Article V Committee of the Conference of Chief Judges.
His professional associations include the Illinois State Bar Association, the Illinois Judges Association, and the Winnebago County Bar Association, of which he is a past President.
