The Illinois Supreme Court has appointed Emily J. Hampton of Peoria to serve as a Commissioner of the Attorney Registration & Disciplinary Commission (ARDC) for a term beginning on June 5, 2024, and expiring on December 31, 2026.

The ARDC is the Supreme Court agency that oversees lawyer licensing and investigates allegations of lawyer wrongdoing in Illinois.

Ms. Hampton is the Director of Human Resources at Illinois CancerCare, P.C. in Peoria. She manages all strategic and operational functions of Human Resources and Administration over 14 locations throughout Central Illinois. Her work involves employee benefits, recruitment and retention, compensation, legal issues, contracting, and labor relations. She oversees a staff of 550 employees, including more than 20 physicians and over 40 mid-level health care providers. She attends and presents information at bi-weekly physician board meetings.

She has been a board member of the Peoria North Rotary and has been active in several Peoria community entities, including the Peoria Regional Advisory Council, the Peoria Community Coalition, the Heart of Illinois HR Council, and the Red Cross Safe Advisory Board.

She attended the University of Northern Iowa and has a certification in finance from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. She is also a Society for Human Resource Management Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP) and a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR).

Ms. Hampton succeeds former Commissioner Drinda L. OConnor. The ARDC has seven Commissioners, three of whom are non-lawyers. The Commissioners, who receive no compensation for their services, act as a board of directors for the agency, creating ARDC policies, overseeing their implementation, establishing an operating budget, appointing members of the ARDC’s Inquiry and Hearing Boards, and managing the Client Protection Program. Commissioners have no role in deciding cases before the ARDC.

More than 80 employees and over 100 lawyer and non-lawyer volunteers work for the ARDC. All funds expended by the agency are from annual registration fees paid by Illinois attorneys; there are no tax dollars used to support the disciplinary system.

There are two ARDC offices: 130 East Randolph Drive, Suite 1500, in Chicago and 3161 West White Oaks Drive, Suite 301, in Springfield.