SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) -- Chicago Democrat Thomas Fitzgerald will serve as the next chief justice of the Illinois Supreme Court.

Fitzgerald's colleagues unanimously chose him Monday as their next leader. He'll replace current Chief Justice Bob Thomas.

Thomas is a Republican from DuPage County who finishes his three-year leadership term in September.

Fitzgerald's judicial career started in Cook County in the mid-1970s. He served as supervising judge of the county's traffic court and was part of a Supreme Court committee on capital punishment cases before being elected to the high court in 2000.

He'll oversee the court and set its schedule as chief justice along with becoming the top administrative officer for Illinois' court system.

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