Michael Patrick McCuskey (born June 30, 1948) is the Illinois Legislative Inspector General since his appointment on February 17, 2022. He has served as a state circuit and appellate judge, and a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district cou ...

of the

United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois The United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois (in case citations, C.D. Ill.) serves the residents of forty-six counties, which are divided into four divisions. The counties are: Adams, Brown, Bureau, Cass, Champaign, C ...

Education and legal career

In 1966, McCuskey graduated in a class of 16 students at Sparland High School,Sparland High School was consolidated into the current Midland High School. Sparland,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...

. He was recruited to

Illinois State University Illinois State University (ISU) is a public university in Normal, Illinois. Founded in 1857 as Illinois State Normal University, it is the oldest public university in Illinois. The university emphasizes teaching and is recognized as one of th ...

in 1966 by baseball coach Duffy Bass, who told McCuskey about the new

Political Science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and ...

department starting at ISU that autumn. While at ISU, he was a member of the 1969 baseball team that played in the

NCAA College Division The NCAA College Division was a historic subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) consisting of member schools competing at a lower level of college sports. The NCAA initially divided schools into a College Division and a ...

championships; a sore arm ended his pitching career. McCuskey received a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

degree from

in 1970 as part the first class to graduate from ISU's Political Science department. Following graduation, he was a baseball coach and history teacher at

Ottawa Township High School Ottawa Township High School, or Ottawa High School, is a high school located at 211 East Main Street in Ottawa, IL. Buildings The school comprises three buildings, each with three stories. The main building is the first building seen upon appro ...

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

, Illinois for two years, then entered the

Saint Louis University School of Law Saint Louis University School of Law, also known as SLU LAW, is a private American law school located in St. Louis, Missouri. It is one of the professional graduate schools of Saint Louis University. The University hosted a law school briefly fr ...

, where he received his

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice l ...

in 1975. He was in private practice as a partner in the law firm of Pace, McCuskey and Galley in Lacon, Illinois from 1975 to 1988, and was also the chief

public defender A public defender is a lawyer appointed to represent people who otherwise cannot reasonably afford to hire a lawyer to defend themselves in a trial. Several countries provide people with public defenders, including the UK, Hungary and Singapore, ...

of Marshall County, Illinois, from 1976 to 1988.

Judicial career

State judicial service

He was elected an Illinois state circuit court judge on the Tenth Judicial Circuit from 1988 to 1990, where he sat in felony court at Peoria. When two new seats were created on the

Illinois Appellate Court The Illinois Appellate Court is the court of first appeal for civil and criminal cases rising in the Illinois Circuit Courts. Three Illinois Appellate Court judges hear each case and the concurrence of two is necessary to render a decision. The ...

, he chose to run for one of the newly created seats. In the 1990 general election, McCuskey defeated Republican candidate William Holdridge. Robert A. Barnes Jr. was appointed by the Illinois Supreme Court to succeed him in the 10th circuit effective January 3, 1991. McCuskey served as a judge on the Illinois Appellate Court from 1990 to 1998. In 1993, he was selected its presiding judge. In 1991, he received the Illinois Public Defender Association's Award of Excellence and Meritorious Service. While an appellate court judge, McCuskey was appointed to the Administrative Committee, replacing

Tobias Barry Tobias G. Barry, Jr. (April 12, 1924 – April 4, 2017) was an American politician in the state of Illinois. Early life Barry was born in Chicago on April 12, 1924, to Tobias Barry Sr. who represented the area in the Illinois House of Repres ...

, who had served as committee chairman. After his confirmation to the federal bench by the U.S. Senate, the Illinois Supreme Court appointed former state legislator

Judy Koehler Judy Koehler (born September 20, 1941) is an American politician who served as a Republican member of the Illinois House of Representatives and Illinois Appellate Court Justice. Illinois House of Representatives Koehler was first elected to the ...

to the vacancy.

Federal judicial service

He was nominated for the

by President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (Birth name, né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 ...

on July 31, 1997, to a seat vacated by Harold Baker. McCuskey and G. Patrick Murphy's respective nominations were held by

Phil Gramm William Philip Gramm (born July 8, 1942) is an American economist and politician who represented Texas in both chambers of Congress. Though he began his political career as a Democrat, Gramm switched to the Republican Party in 1983. Gramm was a ...

in retaliation for

Carol Moseley Braun Carol Elizabeth Moseley Braun, also sometimes Moseley-Braun (born August 16, 1947), is a former U.S. Senator, an American diplomat, politician, and lawyer who represented Illinois in the United States Senate from 1993 to 1999. Prior to her Senate ...

blocking Gramm's preferred nominee to the

Commodity Futures Trading Commission The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is an independent agency of the US government created in 1974 that regulates the U.S. derivatives markets, which includes futures, swaps, and certain kinds of options. The Commodity Exchange Act ...

until the intervention of

George Ryan George Homer Ryan (born February 24, 1934) is an American former politician and member of the Republican Party who served as the 39th governor of Illinois from 1999 to 2003. Elected in 1998, Ryan received national attention for his 1999 morat ...

. McCuskey was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and ...

on April 2, 1998, and received his commission on April 3, 1998. He served as

chief judge A chief judge (also known as presiding judge, president judge or principal judge) is the highest-ranking or most senior member of a lower court or circuit court with more than one judge. According to the Federal judiciary of the United States, ...

of the district from December 14, 2004Illinois State University's Trustee biography says that McCuskey's chief judge term started on December 14, 2004; Greyheart says only December 2004; the Federal Judicial Center biography says only 2004; Kravetz in the ''Peoria Journal Star'' says "since 2005". to March 12, 2012, when he swore in successor James E. Shadid. McCuskey took

senior status Senior status is a form of semi- retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of service as a federal judge must be at leas ...

on June 30, 2013, and retired from the bench on May 31, 2014.

Return to state judicial service

He was appointed to the Illinois Tenth Judicial Circuit, his original seat, taking office on June 3, 2014, to complete the term of the retiring Kevin Galley. McCuskey took up his seat in Marshall County, and stated his intention to run for election in November 2016. In 2016, McCuskey was elected to the vacancy unopposed. He stepped down as a judge in 2020 The Illinois Supreme Court appointed Paul Bauer as McCuskey's successor as the resident circuit judge of Marshall County.

ISU Board of Trustees

Governor

Rod Blagojevich Rod Blagojevich ( , born December 10, 1956), often referred to by his nicknames "Blago" or "B-Rod", is an American former politician, political commentator, and convicted felon who served as the 40th governor of Illinois from 2003 to 2009, when ...

appointed McCuskey a member of the

Board of Trustees for a term commencing September 29, 2005 and ending January 17, 2011. McCuskey was confirmed by the Illinois Senate in a unanimous vote on November 3, 2005. In 2011, Governor Pat Quinn reappointed McCuskey to the ISU Board of Trustees for a term from 2011 to 2017. Upon reassuming a circuit court judgeship in 2014, he stepped down from the ISU Board of Trustees and was replaced by Robert Dobski.

Illinois Legislative Inspector General

On July 14, 2021, Carol M. Pope announced her intent to resign as the Legislative Inspector General effective January 31, 2022. The Illinois Senate voted in favor of McCuskey's nomination on February 16, 2022, and the Illinois House voted in favor of his nomination the next day.

Personal

His wife, Barbara Huber McCuskey, graduated from

in 1987; as of 2006, they had one son and lived in Urbana, and lived in Lacon.

Notes

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McCuskey, Michael Patrick 1948 births Living people Illinois State University alumni Criminal defense lawyers Judges of the Illinois Appellate Court Judges of the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois People from Marshall County, Illinois People from Peoria, Illinois People from Urbana, Illinois Public defenders Saint Louis University School of Law alumni United States district court judges appointed by Bill Clinton 20th-century American judges