Tyria B. Walton
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 public defender
Record
Appointed to the Circuit Court in 2019 and elected in 2020; hears criminal cases at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse in Chicago after handling criminal and traffic cases in Chicago and Maywood. Injustice Watch reports that in 2024 she acquitted Whitley Temple, who dragged and injured a Chicago police officer with the officer's own squad car, of attempted murder and found her not guilty by reason of insanity on other counts, and that she said in court she had received threats afterward. It also reports that, as president of the Illinois Judicial Council, a group of Black judges, she urged a South Side church congregation in August to vote yes for the judges seeking retention. A judge stays on the bench with a yes from 60 percent of voters.
Background
Cook County assistant public defender representing people charged with murder and other crimes (1998-2019); solo practitioner (1997-1998). Law degree from Loyola University Chicago (1997).
Compiled from public sources: