Justice Lisa Holder White and the Illinois Supreme Court have announced that retired Judge Paul Gilfillan has been assigned as a Resident Circuit Judge for Peoria County in the Tenth Judicial Circuit. 

Judge Gilfillan is being assigned to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Kevin W. Lyons, effective August 4, 2023. Judge Gilfillan’s assignment is effective September 5, 2023, and will expire on December 2, 2024.  

Judge Gilfillan was first elected to the bench in 2006 as a Tazewell County Resident Circuit Judge and served as a judge for 16 years. He was Tazewell County’s Presiding Judge from both 2011 to 2016 and from 2021 until his retirement in April 2022, and served as Chief Judge of the Tenth Circuit from 2017 to 2020. Prior to joining the bench, Judge Gilfillan practiced law for 24 years at the Peoria Law Firm of Quinn, Johnston, Henderson & Pretorius, LTD.

Judge Gilfillan earned his undergraduate degree from Illinois State University and his Juris Doctor from the Valparaiso University School of Law. 

The Tenth Judicial Circuit encompasses five counties: Marshall, Peoria, Putnam, Stark, and Tazewell.