Joe Billy McDade

Joe Billy McDade
Judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois
In office November 25, 1991 – February 28, 2010
Appointed by	George H. W. Bush
Preceded by	New seat
Succeeded by	Sara Lynn Darrow
Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois
In office 1998–2004
Preceded by	Michael M. Mihm
Succeeded by	Michael P. McCuskey
Personal details
Born	1937 (age 86–87) Bellville, Texas, U.S.
Spouse	Mary McDade
Children	4
Alma mater	Bradley University University of Michigan Law School

Joe Billy McDade (born 1937) is a United States federal judge on the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois, with chambers in Peoria, Illinois. He is the first judge of the newly created seat, and was nominated by George H. W. Bush.

His wife, Mary McDade, is also a judge: she has been a justice on the Illinois Appellate Court since December 2000. They have four children.

McDade has senior status, a form of semi retirement. Sara Lynn Darrow, a federal prosecutor based in Rock Island, Illinois (one of the four Illinois-Iowa Quad Cities) has replaced him following her nomination by President Barack Obama and confirmation by the United States Senate.

Life before the bench

Born in Bellville, Texas, McDade received a B.S. in Economics, with Honors, in 1959, and a M.S. in Psychology in 1960, both from Bradley University. While at Bradley, McDade was part of the All-NIT Basketball Team in 1957 and 1959 as a member of the Bradley University NIT Championship team. He earned a J.D. from University of Michigan Law School in 1963.

McDade was a staff attorney in the United States Department of Justice Antitrust Division in Chicago from 1963 to 1965. He was an executive trainee at the First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Peoria, Illinois in 1965. He was executive director of the Greater Peoria Legal Aid Society from 1965 to 1968. He was in private practice in Peoria, Illinois from 1968 to 1982: first as a partner in Hafele & McDade, P.C., until 1977, then in solo practice until his election as a state judge in 1982.

Judicial career

He was an Associate Circuit Judge, Tenth Judicial Circuit, State of Illinois, from 1982 to 1988, then a Circuit Judge, Tenth Judicial Circuit, State of Illinois, from 1988 to 1991.

McDade is a federal judge on the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois. McDade was nominated by President George H. W. Bush on September 11, 1991, to a new "temporary" seat created by the Federal Judgeship Act of 1990, part of the Judicial Improvements Act of 1990 (Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 101–650, 104 Stat. 5089, enacted December 1, 1990); he was confirmed by the United States Senate on November 21, 1991, and received his commission on November 25, 1991. He served as chief judge of the court from 1998 to 2004. He has been a member of the Illinois State Bar Association General Assembly.