Dan Wright will become an associate judge on Nov. 17 joining nine other circuit judges

Dan Wright will be sworn in as a Seventh Judicial Circuit associate judge on Nov. 17, according to the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts.

Wright, the Sangamon County state's attorney, was selected by a vote of the 12 circuit judges earlier this month.  He was one of seven candidates considered.

Illinois Supreme Court Justice Lisa Holder White will swear in Wright in courtroom 7D of the Sangamon County Courthouse at 3:30 p.m. that afternoon.

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Meanwhile, former state's attorney John C. Milhiser has been nominated by Sangamon County board chairman Andy Van Meter to fill Wright's spot.

That will happen at the county board meeting at 6 p.m. on Nov. 14.

If approved, Milhiser will be sworn in prospectively at the meeting. Milhiser's appointment date would be Friday after Wright tenders his resignation effective at midnight Nov. 17, according to Sangamon County spokesman Jeff Wilhite.

Wright, 44, will be one of 10 associate circuit judges and will be assigned to the family law division. Associate judges are appointed to four-year terms. The Seventh Circuit covers Greene, Jersey, Macoupin, Morgan, and Scott counties, in addition to Sangamon.

A Republican, Wright was appointed state's attorney in 2018 succeeding Milhiser, who had been appointed U.S. attorney for the Central District of Illinois by then-President Donald Trump.

Wright joined the state's attorney's office as a felony assistant state's attorney in 2016. He was promoted to first assistant state's attorney in 2017.

In 2020, Wright defeated Democratic challenger and Springfield attorney Mike Drake to hold on to the office.

Wright, an Alton native, began his law career as a partner at the Springfield firm of Brown, Hay & Stephens.

The vacancy on the bench was due to the death of Associate Judge Matthew Maurer. Maurer, 62, died at his Springfield home on July 23.

Milhiser returned to the office to prosecute felony cases on a part-time basis in early July. He served as state's attorney from 2010 to 2018, twice winning reelection.

Milhiser, 53, resigned as U.S. attorney in February 2021 after Joe Biden defeated Trump in the November 2020 presidential election. It is not unusual for U.S. attorneys to leave their posts shortly after a new president from the opposing party takes office.

In June 2022, Milhiser lost to former state Rep. Dan Brady, R-Bloomington, in the GOP primary for Illinois secretary of state. Former state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias defeated Brady in the general election.

One candidate, Springfield attorney Kent Gray, has already announced he is jumping into the race for state's attorney.

Candidates can file petitions Nov. 27 to Dec. 4 ahead of the March 19, 2024, primary. The general election is Nov. 5.

Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788; sspearie@sj-r.com; X, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Sangamon County state's attorney Dan Wright will become judge Nov. 17