Eileen O’Neill Burke was elected Cook County State’s Attorney in 2024. Eileen’s deep and diverse experience working on the front lines of the justice system began when she served as a Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney in 1991. After a decade as a prosecutor, Eileen worked as a criminal defense attorney, which gave her a balanced view of the justice system.
In 2008, Eileen was elected to the Circuit Court of Cook County, where she served for eight years, presiding over both criminal and civil litigation. In 2016, Justice Burke was elected to the First District Appellate Court in Cook County. During her time there, she authored over 800 written decisions in both civil and criminal cases and reviewed over 1,800 trial court decisions.
Justice Burke has a special passion for training the newest judges and taught Civil Procedure to every new judge in Illinois for 12 years, beginning in 2012, as part of the Judicial Education Faculty. Justice Burke also served as the President of the Illinois Judges Association until June of 2023 and led that organization’s classroom education efforts.
A fourth generation Chicagoan, Eileen was born and raised on the Northwest side and graduated from the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana and Chicago-Kent College of Law.