Judge Thomas R. Sumner retired from the bench in 2007 after serving nearly 20 years as a trial judge for the Circuit Court of Cook County Illinois, the last 12 years in the Criminal Division in Chicago. From 2010 to 2019, Judge Sumner served as a Technical Assistance Provider for Adult Redeploy Illinois (ARI), working closely with local ARI teams on program implementation, conducting outreach to interested counties, and assisting ARI staff on the development of policies and procedures.

During his judicial career, Judge Sumner was a faculty member of the Capital Cases Seminar Series committee and a member of the Illinois Pattern Jury Instructions committee. He also served as a volunteer instructor and judge for law school trial advocacy and moot court competitions at John Marshall, Loyola and the University of Chicago law schools. Prior to going on the bench, he was managing partner of a small boutique law firm, Sumner and Smith, which focused on real estate and public finance transactions. He was also a trial attorney in the Cook County Public Defender’s Office for five years prior to private practice. Judge Sumner is a past President of the Cook County Bar Association and a past member of the Board of Managers of the Chicago Bar Association.

From April 2010 through February 2012, he served as the first Program Coordinator of the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism where he assisted to develop and coordinate programs across Illinois designed to increase the professionalism, wellbeing, and inclusiveness of the Illinois bench and bar. Judge Sumner is a 1977 graduate of the John Marshall Law School and a 1974 graduate of the University of Illinois at Chicago.