Past Controversy

Judge since: 2010

Following five years with the FBI, Brewer served as a Cook County assistant state’s attorney and as a fraud investigator for the Massachusetts Attorney General before working as a sole practitioner for 14 years. He has served in the sixth municipal district in Markham since 2013 and became its presiding judge in 2017.

Bar Association ratings

This year: The CCL and CBA rated him qualified and the ISBA recommended him for retention.

Past: In 2012, Brewer was found qualified by the CBA and CCL. The ISBA found him not qualified because “his handling of personal financial obligations was questioned” — a reference to his significant debt to the IRS.

Notable: The Sun-Times reported on Brewer’s debts in 2016, noting that the IRS was seeking $227,559 in income taxes from Brewer’s days in private practice. An Injustice Watch review of Brewer’s annual statements of economic interests shows that Brewer reported a debt to the IRS of between $100,000 and $250,000 in 2010; his most recent form, filed on April 16 for the calendar year 2017, lists the debt at between $15,000 and $50,000.