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Three H-F residents selected to serve as judges

Three Homewood-Flossmoor residents are among 22 persons selected to the position of associate judge for the Cook County Circuit Court.

Lloyd Brooks and Barbara Dawkins of Homewood, and Anthony Swanagan of Flossmoor, were selected from an initial pool of 225 candidates. They will be sworn in during a virtual ceremony on Oct. 4. Their terms will expire on June 30, 2023. They can be reappointed to the bench. Their selections were announced Sept. 9.

Brooks, 50, is in private practice at The Brooks Law Firm in Chicago. He served as a circuit court judge from 2018 to 2020. He is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and received his law degree from Northwestern University School of Law. He has been a practicing attorney since November 2000.

Dawkins, 49, has been an assistant Cook County State’s Attorney for more than 20 years. Her recent position is as supervisor of the Juvenile Justice Division of the State’s Attorney’s Office. She also is a village trustee in Homewood. Dawkins graduated from Northwestern University and received her law degree from Vanderbilt University School of Law.

Swanagan, 61, is an attorney with the Illinois Attorney General’s Office in Chicago. He had served by appointment as a Cook County judge in the 15th judicial subcircuit in 2018. Swanagan is a graduate of Northwestern University and received his law degree from the University of Chicago Law School.

The selection process took months. From the initial 225 persons who asked to be included, the list was narrowed to 44 finalists by a nominating committee of 11 judges. The Alliance of Bar Associations and the Chicago Bar Association evaluated the candidates. Each finalist was interviewed by the nominating committee. Their names were put forth on a secret ballot from which the circuit court judges voted on their top choices. The election was run by the director of the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts.

The Cook County court system is served by 146 associate judges who are appointed and 249 circuit court judges elected by voters.

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