Retirement of Associate Judge Joseph J. Bruce

Associate Judge Joseph J. Bruce has announced that he will retire from his position on January 30, 2022. Judge Bruce was appointed as an associate judge on October 11, 2006. During his tenure, he has been assigned in Winnebago County and for the majority of his judicial career presided over family law and domestic violence cases. Judge Bruce has taught on domestic violence and family law topics for the Illinois Judicial Education Conference and New Judge Seminars, and is a current member of the Illinois Judicial College Domestic Violence Curriculum Planning Committee.   He was the Chair of the Illinois Judicial Benchbook on Domestic Violence and has been active in Supreme Court Committees developing standardized family law and domestic violence forms.

Eugene G. Doherty, Chief Judge of the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, commented, “Judge Bruce has been a valued member of our judiciary and a faithful public servant. He has brought patience, wisdom, and dignity to some of the most difficult cases a judge can face.”

Judge Bruce is a graduate of Lawrence University (1974), and received his Juris Doctor from the George Washington University Law School in Washington, D.C. (1977). He is an active member of the Illinois Judges Association, Illinois State Bar Association, and the Winnebago County Bar Association.

Judge Bruce stated, “I have been honored to serve our community as a Judge for the past 15 years. I hope to stay involved in judicial education and committee work after my retirement.”

A notice of vacancy for the office of associate judge based on the impending retirement of Judge Bruce is anticipated in early November.

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