Thomas R. Allen (born 1952) is a

judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

within the

Illinois Circuit Court The Illinois circuit courts are state courts of the judiciary of Illinois. They are trial courts of original and general jurisdiction. As of 2024, outside of Cook County which has its own circuit court, there are 24 numbered circuits, which may ...

Cook County Cook County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, California. More than 40 percent of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County. ...

. He was sworn in on December 6, 2010. Prior to his judgeship, he was

Alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

of the 38th

Ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

Chicago 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 ...

, serving since 1993.

Early life

Allen graduated from Illinois Benedictine College and

Kent College of Law The Chicago-Kent College of Law is the law school of the Illinois Institute of Technology, a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. It is the second oldest law school in the state of Illinois (after Northwestern Law). Chicago-Kent wa ...

. After graduation, he worked as a criminal defense attorney for 17 years.

Public service

Allen served as an administrative and legislative assistant to Alderman Thomas Cullerton before succeeding him. Currently, Allen is active in several community organizations: the Portage Park Advisory Board, the Irving Park

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...

, the Sunshine Activity Center for Mentally Handicapped, and the Polish American Police Association.

Aldermanic career

Allen was appointed Alderman in 1993 by

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

Richard M. Daley Richard Michael Daley (born April 24, 1942) is an American politician who served as the 54th mayor of Chicago, Illinois, from 1989 to 2011. Daley was elected mayor in 1989 and was reelected five times until declining to run for a seventh ter ...

to complete the term of Thomas Cullerton, who died in office after a long illness. Allen was elected to a full term in 1995, and re-elected in 1999, 2003, and 2007. As Alderman, Allen was concerned about illegally converted rooming houses. To combat this, Allen created a task force to identify, investigate, and close illegal rooming houses. Allen was chairman of the Transportation and Public Way Committee. He also served on seven other committees: Aviation; Budget and Government Operations; Buildings; Committees, Rules and Ethics; Economic, Capital and Technology Development; Finance; and Zoning. In 2008 Allen was found to be one of seven Chicago aldermen who between them got ten of their children good-paying summer jobs with the

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD), originally known as the Sanitary District of Chicago, is a special-purpose district chartered to operate in Cook County, Illinois, since 1889. Although its name may imply oth ...

. In 2008, Allen unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination in the election for Cook County State's Attorney. In 2010 Allen cosponsored an ordinance with 30th Ward Alderman Ariel Reboyras that designated a stretch of Central Avenue in the vicinity of its intersection with

Belmont Avenue Belmont Avenue (3200 N) is a major east–west street in Chicago and several of its suburbs. It begins in the east near Belmont Harbor and is a key commercial street in Lakeview. West of the North Branch of the Chicago River, it passes throug ...

as "Honorary

Lech Kaczynski Lech is an English word referring to lecherous behavior or person. Lech may also refer to: People * Lech (name), a name of Polish origin * Lech, founder of Poland, the figure from the legendary Lech, Czech, and Rus * Lech (Bohemian prince) (d. 8 ...

Way" to honor the deceased Polish President. After Allen resigned from the City Council to assume his judgeship, Mayor Daley appointed his brother-in-law Timothy Cullerton to succeed him. In 2021, Allen was appointed as a Cook County judge.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Thomas R. Living people Chicago City Council members appointed by Richard M. Daley Benedictine University alumni Illinois Institute of Technology alumni 1965 births Judges of the Circuit Court of Cook County