| Mary Jane Theis | |
| Office: | Chief Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court |
| Term Start: | October 26, 2022 |
| Predecessor: | Anne M. Burke |
| Office1: | Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court |
| Term Start1: | October 26, 2010 |
| Predecessor1: | Thomas Fitzgerald |
| Office2: | Justice of the Illinois 1st District Appellate Court |
| Term Start2: | 1993 |
| Term End2: | October 2010 |
| Office3: | Judge of the Cook County Circuit Court |
| Term Start3: | 1988 |
| Term End3: | 1993 |
| Office4: | Associate Judge of the Cook County Circuit Court |
| Term Start4: | 1983 |
| Term End4: | 1988 |
| Birth Name: | Mary Jane Wendt |
| Birth Date: | 27 February 1949 |
| Birth Place: | Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Party: | Democratic |
| Spouse: | John Theis |
| Relatives: | Ken Wendt (father) |
| Education: | Loyola University Chicago (BA) University of San Francisco (JD) |
Mary Jane Theis (born February 27, 1949) is a justice of the Illinois Supreme Court for the First Judicial District in Cook County. In 2022, she became chief justice after the retirement of then-chief justice Anne M. Burke.
She was born Mary Jane Wendt in Chicago to Eleanore and Kenneth Wendt, a member of the Illinois General Assembly and a longtime judge in Cook County.[1] [2] [3] She is a member of the Democratic Party.[4]
She received her bachelor's degree from Loyola University Chicago and her Juris Doctor from the University of San Francisco School of Law.
Theis was assistant public defender in Cook County from 1974 to 1983.[5]
Theis became a judge in 1983, serving as an associate judge in the Cook County Circuit Court from 1983 to 1988, a full judge in the circuit court from 1988 to 1994, and state appellate court judge from 1993 to 2010. From December 1997 until December 1998, Theis additionally served as president of the Illinois Judges Association.[6]
In 2010, Theis was appointed by the Illinois Supreme Court to fill a vacancy on its bench, taking office October 26, 2010.[7] She won a full term in a partisan election in 2012.[8] In the general election, Chicago Tribune endorsed her for election to a full term, citing her "universally accepted expertise on judicial ethics, family law, sentencing, fairness."[9] She previously served as chair for the Illinois Judicial Conference's Committees on Education and Judicial Conduct, as well as on the Illinois Supreme Court's rules committee.[10] In September 2022, she was named chief justice after the retirement of then-chief justice Anne M. Burke, effective October 26, 2022.[11]
Theis has taught at law schools in Chicago (Loyola University School of Law, Northwestern University School of Law, and the John Marshall Law School) and at Illinois and Chicago bar association conferences and seminars.[12]
Awards which Theis has received include a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Illinois Judges Association, the Mary Heftel Hooten Award from the Women's Bar Association of Illinois, and the Access to Justice Award from the Illinois State Bar Association.
Theis is married to John T. Theis, and they have two children and seven grandchildren.
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