Michael P. McCuskey

Michael Patrick McCuskey (born June 30, 1948) is the Illinois Legislative Inspector General since his appointment on February 17, 2022. He has served as a state circuit and appellate judge, and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois.

Education and legal career

In 1966, McCuskey graduated in a class of 16 students at Sparland High School, Sparland, Illinois. He was recruited to Illinois State University in 1966 by baseball coach Duffy Bass, who told McCuskey about the new Political Science department starting at ISU that autumn. While at ISU, he was a member of the 1969 baseball team that played in the NCAA College Division championships; He was in private practice as a partner in the law firm of Pace, McCuskey and Galley in Lacon, Illinois from 1975 to 1988, and was also the chief public defender of Marshall County, Illinois, from 1976 to 1988. Robert A. Barnes Jr. was appointed by the Illinois Supreme Court to succeed him in the Tenth Circuit effective January 3, 1991.

McCuskey served as a judge on the Illinois Appellate Court from 1990 to 1998. In 1993, he was selected its presiding judge. In 1991, he received the Illinois Public Defender Association's Award of Excellence and Meritorious Service. While an appellate court judge, McCuskey was appointed to the Administrative Committee, replacing Tobias Barry, who had served as committee chairman.

After his confirmation to the federal bench by the U.S. Senate, the Illinois Supreme Court appointed former state legislator Judy Koehler to the vacancy.

Federal judicial service McCuskey was nominated for the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois by President Bill Clinton on July 31, 1997, to a seat vacated by Harold Baker. McCuskey and G. Patrick Murphy's respective nominations were held by Senator Phil Gramm in retaliation for Carol Moseley Braun blocking Gramm's preferred nominee to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission until the intervention of George Ryan. McCuskey was confirmed by the United States Senate on April 2, 1998, and received his commission on April 3, 1998. to March 12, 2012, when he swore in successor James E. Shadid. McCuskey took senior status on June 30, 2013, and retired from the bench on May 31, 2014.

ISU Board of Trustees Governor Rod Blagojevich appointed McCuskey a member of the Illinois State University Board of Trustees for a term commencing September 29, 2005 and ending January 17, 2011. McCuskey was confirmed by the Illinois Senate in a unanimous vote on November 3, 2005. In 2011, Governor Pat Quinn reappointed McCuskey to the ISU Board of Trustees for a term from 2011 to 2017. Upon reassuming a circuit court judgeship in 2014, he stepped down from the ISU Board of Trustees and was replaced by Robert Dobski.

Illinois Legislative Inspector General On July 14, 2021, Carol M. Pope announced her intent to resign as the Legislative Inspector General effective January 31, 2022. McCuskey was appointed to complete the remainder of Pope's term. On May 9, 2023, the Illinois General Assembly voted to appoint McCuskey to a five-year term as the Legislative Inspector General to start June 30, 2023 and end June 30, 2028.

Personal McCuskey's wife, Barbara Huber McCuskey, graduated from Illinois State University in 1987; as of 2006, they had one son and lived in Urbana, and lived in Lacon.