Circuit Judge Valerie E. Turner of the Circuit Court of Cook County was officially retired from office on December 1, 2017, by order of the Illinois Courts Commission. In a complaint filed by the Illinois Judicial Inquiry Board it was claimed that, in August 2016, Turner gave her judicial robe to a law clerk (who was running for a judgeship) and allowed that law clerk to assume the bench and preside over several traffic cases.

The Executive Committee of the Circuit Court of Cook County concluded, on August 17, 2016, that the alleged acts posed a threat of injury to the public’s confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary and the orderly administration of justice. The Executive Committee issued a special order removing Turner from her judicial assignment and reassigning her to restricted duties. After a hearing before the Board in November 2016, a formal complaint was filed, which Turner sought to dismiss. Turner submitted a supplemental memorandum in support of her motion to dismiss in January 2017 noting that the Judge’s Retirement System had approved her application for Temporary Total Disability, and that she would begin receiving benefits pursuant to that status. Turner’s motion to dismiss was ultimately denied, and the matter proceeded to a hearing before the Board in August 2017.

The December 1, 2017 order by the Commission held that Turner “acknowledges that she is permanently unable to perform her judicial duties, and, accordingly, the outcome reached by this Commission must be similarly permanent. Because respondent has not retired or resigned from office, and she is mentally unable to perform her duties as judge, this Commission, under its constitutional authority, retires Respondent Turner from judicial office, effective immediately.” 