For judges, every assignment has its challenges. The sheer volume of traffic court. The complexity of a murder or financial crimes case. The trailblazing nature of a specialty drug court.
Kevin Fitzgerald’s job is among the hardest. In addition to serving as chief judge for the Eleventh Judicial Circuit, Fitzgerald also oversees the child abuse and neglect court.
“It's very difficult sometimes to hear the stories of the children that come in, the families that are broken. The thing I like about it, though, is that I get to make a difference in a child's life just about every day,” Fitzgerald said. “And we are successful most of the time in reuniting families, and if we can fix the problems that existed when the kids came into care, and they can go on safely and in a loving environment, that's great.
“Sometimes it doesn't end up that way, and parental rights are terminated. And most often that results in an adoption of the child and they end up in a much better place than where they started,” he added.
Fitzgerald, a Bloomington-Normal native, will retire July 6 after 18 years on the bench, the last four as chief judge of a five-county circuit (including McLean County) with 21 judges.
Fitzgerald knew he wanted to be a lawyer as an eighth-grader, when he idolized his best friend’s dad who was an attorney. Fitzgerald attended Central Catholic High School and Illinois State University.
Fitzgerald was eligible to seek retention and re-election in 2018. He opted to retire instead. He cited a recent health scare and a desire to spend more time with his 1-year-old grandchild.
Looking back on his career during a recent interview on GLT’s Sound Ideas, Fitzgerald said the two cases that stick with him both involved serious mental health issues in the families before him.
“I'm sure that the decision that we made to terminate parental rights saved (the child’s life),” Fitzgerald said. “That's really a very difficult decision to terminate parental rights. I don't enjoy doing that—at all. But it just comes with the territory.”
What does Fitzgerald think of the family separations being seen at the U.S.-Mexico border?
“There's no question that children are traumatized when they're separated from their families and from their parents,” he said. “We see that on a regular basis. One of the reasons that DCFS has a policy of trying to place children with relatives, if they can, is to minimize that trauma of separation. If they can go to a place they've been before, in a home with someone they know—a grandparent, aunt and uncle—it’s much less traumatic than just taking them out of their parents’ home and placing them with total strangers. So I feel for the children in Mexico.”
Fitzgerald is one of six judges in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit who plan to retire or move into other roles in the next year. Fitzgerald even moved up his retirement date from December to July to avoid having too many overlapping vacancies on the bench. (Associate Judge Bill Yoder will take over Fitzgerald’s circuit judge spot.)
“This is the most turnover we’ve ever had in that short period of time,” Fitzgerald said.
The bench is generally still very white and very male. GLT asked Fitzgerald if these vacancies were an opportunity to add more women and people of color to the Eleventh Judicial Circuit.
“All things being equal, diversity is a good thing. You always want the best person on the bench. I know we’ve got some people who’ve expressed interest in the openings that are coming up that will provide some diversity if they're appointed. And there are some excellent candidates out there. And so I'm hopeful that we achieve that by selecting the best people for the job who happen to also bring some diversity to the bench.”
Mark Fellheimer will become the new chief judge when Fitzgerald retires.
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