Justice Elizbeth M. Rochford and the Illinois Supreme Court have announced the appointment of Associate Judge Jennifer L. Johnson as a Circuit Judge for the 22nd Judicial Circuit Court in McHenry County.

Judge Johnson is being appointed to fill the circuit court vacancy created by the upcoming retirement of McHenry County Circuit Judge James S. Cowlin on January 31, 2024. The appointment of Judge Johnson is effective February 1, 2024, and will conclude December 2, 2024, following the November 2024 general election.

Judge Johnson was first appointed to the bench as an Associate Judge in 2019 and was reappointed in 2023. In her role as Associate Judge, she has heard a variety of case types including traffic, misdemeanor, and domestic violence as well as criminal and civil cases on special assignment call. She is a member of the New Judge Orientation Workshop and currently serves as a member of the Illinois Judicial College's Committee on Judicial Education.

Prior to joining the bench, Judge Johnson was a partner at Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP. She started her legal career in Southern Indiana with a leading firm.

She earned her Bachelor of Arts, summa cum laude, from Marian University and earned her Juris Doctor from the Indiana University McKinney School of Law.

Her affiliations include Illinois Judges Association, where she is co-chair of the Educational Programming Committee, and the McHenry County Bar Association, where she is a member of the Board of Governors and served as Continuing Legal Education (CLE) coordinator.