Appointed By: Judges of the 21st Judicial Circuit
The Hon. Nancy A. Nicholson is an associate judge for the 21st Judicial Circuit Court of Illinois. Nicholson was appointed to the bench by the judges of the Circuit Court in 2021.
The 21st Judicial Circuit includes Kankakee and Iroquois counties.
Prior to her appointment, Nicholson was an assistant state’s attorney with the Kankakee County State’s Attorney’s Office, a position she returned to in 2012. During her tenure there, she represented Kankakee County in civil matters and the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services in county paternity and child support cases. Before that, she spent two years in private practice as an attorney at Elliott & McClure (2010 to 2012).
Nicholson received a bachelor’s degree in psychology from William Jewell College in 1997. She spent the next few years as a caseworker for Hillcrest Ministries (1997 to 1998) and an administrative assistant for the Clay County Prosecutor’s Office (1995 to 2000) before completing a J.D. at Northern Illinois University College of Law in 2004. She was admitted to practice in Illinois (2004).
After graduating from law school, Nicholson began her first stint as an assistant state’s attorney in Kankakee County, where she served for the next six years before transitioning into the private sector in 2010.
Her memberships have included the Kankakee County Bar Association.
Nicholson was raised in St. Anne, Illinois, and attended Bradley-Bourbonnais Community High School.
For full print and download access, please subscribe at https://www.trellis.law/.
