Lake County Judge Christopher Starck will retire at the end of the month
A third longtime Lake County judge has announced he will retire at the end of the month.
Circuit Judge Christopher Starck announced he will leave the bench Jan. 29. Starck, who has served for 27 years, follows judges John T. Phillips and George Bridges into retirement. Phillips and Bridges will retire Jan. 24.
"I want to thank him (Starck) for his many years of service on the bench, and I am very happy for him and his family," said Judge Jorge Ortiz, chief judge of the 19th Judicial Circuit in Lake County. "He, too, will be sorely missed by the entire Lake County legal community."
Born in Chicago, Starck grew up in Lake County and attended grammar and high schools in Deerfield. He graduated from Carroll College in Waukesha, Wisconsin, and received his law degree from Loyola University School of Law in 1979.
He worked in Waukegan and Chicago before opening the law firm of Smoker and Starck with Tom Smoker, a former associate judge.
Starck was appointed associate judge in 1989, then appointed circuit judge by the Illinois Supreme Court in 2000.
"While retirement brings some sadness and a few tears, it is something that we all look forward to and have worked very hard to achieve," Starck said. "Probably one of the highlights of my career include being elected chief judge and serving three terms in that position from Dec. 1, 2004 to Nov. 30, 2007," Starck said.
Starck was appointed chief judge at a time when the 19th Judicial Circuit consisted of Lake and McHenry counties. McHenry County became known as the 22nd Judicial Circuit in 2006.
He also served on the Judicial Conference of Illinois Automation and Technology Committee, the Committee on Strategic Planning, and the Executive Committee on the Supreme Court Business Policy Board. He was reappointed to the Judicial Conference Executive Committee and the Judicial Conference Study Committee on Complex Litigation.