Justice Bertina E. Lampkin is on the ballot for a retention vote for the Illinois Appellate Court, 1st District, in the Nov. 3, 2026, general election.
In a retention race, voters decide whether to keep a sitting judge on the bench rather than choosing between competing candidates. The race is nonpartisan. Lampkin has been certified for the ballot, according to BallotReady election data.
Lampkin, of Chicago according to an Illinois Courts profile, has served on the 1st District appellate bench since 2009. The 1st District covers Cook County, which includes Evanston. Before joining the appellate court, she spent more than two decades as a trial court judge in Cook County.
Candidate information
- Office sought: Illinois Appellate Court Judge, 1st District (retention)
- Party: Nonpartisan
- Hometown: Chicago, Illinois
- Education: Bachelor's degree, Roosevelt University (1974); juris doctor, DePaul University (1974)
Experience and public service
Lampkin began her legal career as an assistant state's attorney in Cook County, a position she held from 1974 to 1985. Over that span she worked in the county's criminal prosecution office for more than a decade.
She then served as a senior attorney in the Office of the Corporation Counsel from 1985 to 1987, representing the city in legal matters before moving to the bench.
In 1987, Lampkin became an associate judge on the Cook County Circuit Court. She was elevated to circuit judge in 1992 and also served as a supervising judge on the circuit court during her tenure there. She held those roles until 2009, when she was elected to the Illinois Appellate Court's 1st District, where she has served since.
Outside her judicial duties, Lampkin served on the Illinois Supreme Court's criminal pattern jury instructions committee for fifteen years, according to the Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts. She chaired the committee during her final five years on it. Pattern jury instructions are standardized templates that guide how judges explain the law to jurors in criminal cases.
Lampkin also taught in the area of death penalty litigation and led classes for new judges, according to the Chicago Appleseed Center. She wrote practice guides for new judges as well.
Her career on the bench spans nearly four decades, beginning with her appointment as an associate judge in 1987 and continuing through her service on the appellate court.
Endorsements
The Chicago Council of Lawyers rated Lampkin "Qualified" for the appellate court, according to the Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts.
This profile was compiled from publicly available candidate information, including data from BallotReady and the Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts. No candidate questionnaire responses were available for this profile.
