A long-serving justice with Illinois' Third District Appellate Court is retiring this summer. Justice Tom Lytton has been a judge since 1992, all on the 3rd District Appellate Court bench. Supreme Court Justice Robert L. Carter had high praise for Lytton, saying "Every Illinois citizen has benefited from the service of Justice Tom Lytton," adding, "He is a role model for all judges in the state." Supreme Court Justice Carter has announced serving in Lytton's seat for the next two years before an open election for the seat will be Joseph Hettel. Hettel currently is a Circuit Judge in the 13th Circuit in LaSalle County. Hettel was first appointed to that job in 2006 and has been retained twice since most recently in 2020. Hettel says he is "honored and humbled by this appointment" and will do his best to "serve the citizens of the Third District in the manner they are accustomed after 30 years of service by Justice Lytton." (Pictured: Jus