Kelley takes over brother’s judge seat after 23 years on Harper College board

Longtime Harper College board trustee and Schaumburg attorney Bill Kelley has been appointed a Cook County judge, replacing his brother, who retired from the bench.

Kelley, a practicing attorney for more than four decades at his family’s Schaumburg law firm Kelley, Kelley & Kelley, was formally appointed to the 13th subcircuit vacancy by the Illinois Supreme Court “out of public necessity to ensure an adequate level of judicial staffing in Cook County,” according to a news release.

He was assigned to traffic court at the Daley Center effective Aug. 10, under a special order by Cook County Chief Judge Charles Beach.

Kelley and a dozen other judges — who are unopposed in the Nov. 3 general election and received positive ratings from bar associations — received appointments from the state’s high court.

He was unopposed in the March Democratic primary for the seat formerly held by his brother, Thomas J. Kelley, who stepped down in September 2025. His other brother, Martin C. Kelley, was also a Cook County judge until his death in 2024.

Bill Kelley, a member of the Harper board of trustees since 2003, was elected to four six-year terms, and served as the elected panel’s chair since 2023. The Palatine community college announced the board vacancy effective Aug. 7 following Kelley’s resignation.

“Bill has led the board of trustees with integrity, vision and an unwavering commitment to Harper College’s students and mission,” Walt Mundt, the board’s vice chair, said in a statement. “His thoughtful leadership has helped guide Harper through an important period of progress and opportunity.”

After graduating from St. Viator High School, Kelley attended Harper in 1973 and went on to attain political science and law degrees from Loyola University, where he graduated in the top 2% of his law school class and served as an editor of the Loyola Law Journal.

His longtime civic involvement in the Northwest suburbs includes stints as past president and board member of the Northwest Suburban Bar Association and past chair of the Kenneth Young Center board.

Harper trustees appointed Tricia Elliott, a Barrington resident and vice president of a nonprofit health care organization, to fill the remainder of Kelley’s term. She was among some 20 candidates considered for the role.

Elliott, a former adjunct health careers instructor at Harper who served on the school’s Health Information Technology Advisory Board, is eligible to run for a full 6-year term in the April 6, 2027, election.

cplacek@dailyherald.com