Former Kane Judge Donald Hudson dies of cancer

Illinois Courts announced the death early Tuesday of Second District Appellate Court Justice Donald C. Hudson at his home in St. Charles following a battle with cancer.

Hudson became an associate judge in 1993, was elected as a 16th Judicial Circuit judge in 2000 and became Chief Judge in 2004. He was reelected in 2006 and served on the Second Appellate Court in Elgin since 2009, according to a news release about his death.

The Second Appellate Court hears cases appealed from state courts in DeKalb, Kane, Kendall, Lake and McHenry counties.

"This is a huge loss to Illinois and our judiciary," Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Mary Jane Theis stated in the release. "Don has been a leader in so many ways, and he really shined when it came to education and ethics. The Court frequently called on him to bring people together for a consensus on a difficult topic. He will be remembered as a bright and thoughtful person who was a pleasure to be around. I will miss him dearly."

Hudson was born and raised in Chicago.

The Illinois Supreme Court appointed Hudson to be the chair of the Supreme Court's Statewide Committee on Criminal Law and Probation Administration in January 2005. In 2006 and 2007, he was reappointed by the Supreme Court as chair of that committee.

Hudson has also served as a faculty member for the Illinois Education Conference and taught the Education Conference classes. Hudson was appointed to the Judicial Inquiry Board in April 2007 and was elected chair of the board in June 2008. In December 2008, he was appointed by the Illinois Supreme Court to be the chair of a Special Supreme Court Committee whose mandate is to codify the law of evidence in the state of Illinois, the release stated.

Justice Hudson also served on the Illinois State Bar Association's Criminal Justice Section Council and served several terms as the chairman of the Kane County Bar Association's Criminal Law Committee.

Visitation will be from 1 to 7 p.m. Sunday, April 16, at Malone Funeral Home, 324 East State St., Geneva.