Joseph S. Kotlarz, Jr. (born October 29, 1956) was an American lawyer and politician. Born in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, Kotlarz received his bachelor's degree from

DePaul University DePaul University is a private university, private Catholic higher education, Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded by the Congregation of the Mission, Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from ...

and his J.D. degree from John Marshall Law School. He practiced law. In 1983, Kotlarz was elected to the

Chicago City Council The Chicago City Council is the legislative branch of the Law and government of Chicago, government of the Chicago, City of Chicago in Illinois. It consists of 50 alderpersons elected from 50 Wards of the United States, wards to serve four-year t ...

and was involved with the Democratic Party. From 1993 to 1997, Kotlarz served in the

Illinois House of Representatives The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 representativ ...

. In 1997, Kotlarz resigned from the

Illinois General Assembly The Illinois General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. state of Illinois. It has two chambers, the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate. The General Assembly was created by the first state constitution adopted in ...

after being convicted for theft and conspiracy in a real estate scam involving the Illinois Toll Highway Authority.

Notes

1956 births Living people Politicians from Chicago Chicago City Council members Democratic Party members of the Illinois House of Representatives Illinois politicians convicted of crimes DePaul University alumni 20th-century members of the Illinois General Assembly {{Illinois-Ilrepresentative-Democratic-stub