Pilmer selected as next chief judge of the 23rd Circuit in Kendall, DeKalb

A longtime circuit judge and attorney from Yorkville has been named chief judge for the 23rd Judicial Circuit, which consists of Kendall and DeKalb counties.

The eight circuit judges selected Judge Robert Pilmer to be named chief judge of the circuit, replacing current Chief Judge Robbin Stuckert, beginning Dec. 3, according to a document filed in court Tuesday, Oct. 30.

Stuckert operates out of the DeKalb County Courthouse in Sycamore. Pilmer works out of the Kendall County Courthouse in Yorkville and will continue to do so as chief judge.

The term of chief judge lasts three years, and switches between judges in DeKalb County and Kendall County.

Pilmer was first elected as a circuit judge in 2010.

Pilmer is a graduate of West Aurora High School and St. Olaf College in Minnesota, and received his law degree from Drake University in Iowa in 1983.

Pilmer served on the Yorkville School District Board of Education between 1989 and 1995, and was in private practice for many years before becoming a judge.

Pilmer said he appreciated the confidence that the other seven circuit judges showed in him in electing him chief judge.

“We’re fortunate in the 23rd circuit that we have a lot of good judges,” he said. “You don’t see problems that they have in other counties or other circuits.”

Judge Timothy McCann, who served as chief judge from the 23rd Circuit from 2012 to 2015, said Pilmer was a “first-round ballot hall-of-famer” pick for chief judge. McCann served as Kendall County state’s attorney from 1996 until he was appointed an associate judge in 2005. Prior to his tenure as prosecutor, McCann was in private practice and he and Pilmer often litigated on opposing sides, McCann said.

“Bob has always been a true gentleman, and he’s going to do a great job as a chief judge,” McCann said. “He is a friend and a colleague that I support. There was really no question, we felt he was the unanimous, consensus, first-round ballot hall-of-famer for us; he was going to get it. We knew he would do a great job leading us forward.”

McCann has served as presiding judge for Kendall County for the past six years – including his tenure as chief judge – which means he is in charge of a variety of administrative duties, such as scheduling judge court calls. McCann said it is “bittersweet” to give up the ability to control some of the administrative duties, but that Pilmer and he had been working together, attending meetings together and that the transfer is “going to be very seamless.”

“I think we’re going to pretty much keep things status quo,” McCann said.