Sue E. Myerscough

Judge Sue Myerscough is a U.S. District Judge for the Central District of Illinois. Prior to her legal career, Myerscough taught in Springfield Public Schools and at Southern Illinois University. Following law school, she clerked for the Judge Harold A. Baker of the Central District of Illinois.

From 1981-87, Myerscough was in private practice at then Giffin Winning followed Hinshaw & Culbertson in Springfield. In 1987, Judge Myerscough was appointed associate judge of the Circuit Court for the Seventh Judicial Circuit and in 1990 she was elected circuit judge. Myerscough served as presiding judge of Sangamon County from 1994-98 and chief judge of the Seventh Judicial Circuit from 1996-98.

As chief and presiding judge, she created a domestic violence court and council, the Right Track Truancy program, and helped secure a $1.74 million grant for construction of a new Juvenile Center. The Seventh Judicial Circuit honored Myerscough with the Distinguished Service Award in 1998. Also that year, Judge Myerscough was elected to the Illinois Fourth District Appellate Court, where she served as presiding judge in 2003 and 2009.

She regularly presented at Illinois State Bar Association and judges’ seminars and judged moot court competitions for local schools and universities. She also served on the Illinois Judicial Ethics Committee from 2002-09. In 2011, Myerscough was confirmed as a U.S. District Judge and established and oversaw a voluntary reentry program for ex-offenders.

Twenty-five years ago, Judge Myerscough instituted Take Your Child to Work Day with the Central Illinois Women’s Bar Association (CIWBA) which includes a mock trial based on a fairytale and a social hour.

Myerscough has belonged to ISBA, Sangamon County Bar Association, Inn of Court, Illinois Judges Association and the American Bar Association. She has been an active member of CIWBA since its inception and served on the board of Sojourn Shelter & Services, a nonprofit providing emergency shelter, counseling, and education for victims of domestic violence.

Myerscough served on the SIU Board of Visitors from 1998-2001 and 2006-09 and received the Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award in 2003. She has also served as an adjunct professor at SIU in Medical Humanities and gives frequent lectures in the areas of trial advocacy and evidentiary topics.

She has been honored with the Athena Award from the Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce, the YWCA’s Women in Excellence Award, the Women of Achievement Award in Government from the Women in Management National Conference, the Woman of Achievement Award in Government from the Capitol City Chapter of Women in Management, the Hillary Rodham Clinton Leadership Award from the Illinois Democratic Women and Security Bank’s “Women of Influence.”

Myerscough received her B.A. and J.D. from SIU and performed graduate work at the University of Chicago. She is married and has two daughters.