Judge Facing Domestic Battery Charge Assigned To 'Restricted Duties'

CHICAGO — A Cook County judge was placed on restricted duties a day after he was arrested at his Chicago home and charged with domestic battery.

Circuit Judge Carl Boyd is assigned to the Sixth Municipal District, where he normally hears various matters at the Markham courthouse.

Late Tuesday night, he was arrested at his Beverly home and charged with one misdemeanor count.

Cook County Chief Judge Tim Evans said in a statement that he ordered that Boyd be restricted to non-judicial duties Wednesday, effective immediately.

Evans said he issued the order "to promote public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary."

Chicago police called to Boyd's home were told that he threw a bottle at a glass door window, causing it to shatter and leaving a woman with a large cut to her face.

Boyd was first elected to the bench running unopposed for a vacant seat in the 2nd subcircuit in 2012.

Before that had he had spent nearly two decades at a single firm working on bankruptcy and torts litigation, according to an evaluation from the Chicago Council of Lawyers, which found him "not qualified" at the time.

"Boyd is considered to have good legal ability and temperament," it said. "The Council is concerned, however, that his actual trial work is limited."

The matter of Boyd's recent arrest has also been referred to the Judicial Inquiry Board, which investigates complaints against judges in Illinois, according to the chief judge.

"Also," Evans said, "I have asked the Illinois Supreme Court to assign a judge from outside of Cook County to hear Judge Boyd’s criminal case, to avoid even the appearance of impropriety."