State supreme court elects new chief justice

SPRINGFIELD -- Thomas R. Fitzgerald will be the next chief justice of the Illinois Supreme Court, replacing DuPage County's Robert Thomas when his term atop the court ends in September, the court announced Monday.

Fitzgerald, 66, of Chicago, was elected to the state's high court in 2000. His fellow justices unanimously picked him to be the next chief justice. His three-year stint will expire in 2011.

"I am profoundly honored by my colleagues' selection of me as chief justice," he said in a news release announcing the move.

Thomas, a Wheaton Republican on a majority Democratic court, was named chief justice by his colleagues in 2005.

"I am extremely proud of the progress made by the court over the past three years and I am certain that that court will continue to make great strides under Justice Fitzgerald's leadership," Thomas said in the news release.

Thomas remains on the court.