Justice Rita B. Garman and the Illinois Supreme Court have announced the appointment of Robin L. Schmidt as a Resident Circuit Judge in the Seventh Judicial Circuit.
Mrs. Schmidt is being appointed to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge John Belz in July 2021.
The appointment takes effect on June 8, 2022, and will conclude on December 5, 2022, when the vacancy will be filled by the winner of the November 2022 general election. Mrs. Schmidt is currently running unopposed for that seat.
Mrs. Schmidt is currently an Assistant State’s Attorney in Sangamon County where she serves as Felony Prosecutor with a focus on domestic violence, and elder abuse and exploitation. Prior to this, she was an administrative hearings representative/prosecutor for the Illinois Secretary of State’s Office and had served from 1999 to 2006 as Chief Administrative Law Judge and Administrative Law Judge with the Illinois Department of Public Health. She has been an elected trustee of the Springfield Park Board since 2013.
Mrs. Schmidt earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Illinois Urbana/Champaign and her Juris Doctor from the Southern Illinois University School of Law.
Her professional associations include the Illinois State Bar Association, the Central Illinois Women’s Bar Association, and the Sangamon County Bar Association, where she is a past President of the Young Lawyer’s Division.
Judge Schmidt is the widow of Judge John Schmidt who passed in 2017.
The Seventh Judicial Circuit encompasses six counties: Jersey, Macoupin, Greene, Scott,
Morgan, and Sangamon.