Cook County Judge LeRoy Martin Jr., who presides over the busiest felony courthouse in Chicago, has been assigned to a seat on the state’s appellate court.
Martin’s assignment will take effect Jan. 4, according to an order entered Thursday by the Illinois Supreme Court.
Martin took the bench in 2002 after a legal career spent mostly in private practice. In 2015, Chief Judge Timothy Evans named him the head of the Criminal Division, supervising dozens of judges at the bustling Leighton Criminal Court Building in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood.
Martin’s father, the late LeRoy Sr., was Chicago police superintendent in the 1980s and early 1990s. His son, LeRoy III, is a rank-and-file Cook County prosecutor.
Evans is now tasked with naming Martin’s replacement at Leighton.
mcrepeau@chicagotribune.com