Kristal R. Rivers
Judge up for retention, on the Chicago ballot November 3, 2026. Incumbent.
Circuit Court of Cook County
Ratings
- Chicago Bar Association: Qualified
- Illinois State Bar Association: Yes
- Injustice Watch: Former prosecutor
Record
Elected to the Circuit Court in 2014; hears misdemeanor and traffic cases at the Bridgeview courthouse, where she moved at her request in 2021 after seven years in the Juvenile Justice Division. Injustice Watch reports that the appellate court reversed several of her juvenile decisions, including probation terms ordering minors to scrub all gang and drug activity from social media and avoid all contact with gangs, parts of which it found too broad; she has not been reversed since moving to Bridgeview. A judge stays on the bench with a yes from 60 percent of voters.
Background
Assistant attorney general in the Sexually Violent Persons Bureau of the Illinois Attorney General's Office (2010-2014); earlier in private practice in real estate (2001-2010) and an assistant criminal district attorney in Dallas, Texas (1997-2000). Law degree from Drake University (1996).
Compiled from public sources: