Tom Bruton

Tom Bruton was appointed Clerk of Court for the Northern District of Illinois on January 1, 2012.  The Northern District of Illinois is headquartered in Chicago and is the third largest federal court in the country with its 22 district judgeships, 11 senior district judges and 12 magistrate judges.  The Clerk’s Office consists of over 150 staff members, 27 court reporters and two staff interpreters. 

Tom began his career in the Federal Courts in 2004 as the Property and Procurement Administrator for the Northern District of Illinois.  From 2004 through 2011, he oversaw the Budget, Space & Facilities and the Procurement Department for the Court.

Tom has been a member of the Federal Court Clerk’s Association (FCCA) since 2005 and has been a member of the FCCA Board of Directors since 2009.  In 2012, Tom was elected to serve as President-Elect of the FCCA.  In August 2015, Tom was sworn in as President of the FCCA for a two year term.  Tom currently serves as the Immediate Past President of the FCCA.

In 2018, Tom was appointed as the Vice President for Associations of the International Association for Court Administration (IACA).  In this position, Tom serves as a member of the Executive Board and has the primary responsibility for identifying, connecting with and maintaining relationships with other associations and bodies connected, directly or indirectly, with justice and courts.

Tom graduated from Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota with honors in 1999, majoring in Criminal Justice and Political Science.  While attending Saint Mary’s, Tom worked for the Winona, MN Police Department.  During that time, Tom held various positions within the Police Department including, Intern, Reserve Officer and Reserve Sergeant. 

In 2014, Tom graduated from the Michigan State University Judicial Administration Program after submitting a capstone paper entitled, “Establishing a Succession Planning Program in a Federal Court Clerk’s Office.” Tom has presented this program at conferences and meetings.  Tom has been on several hiring panels for court executives and has worked on court executive compensation issues.

While working for the Northern District of Illinois, Tom has been a part of the construction of the Stanley J. Roszkowski Courthouse in Rockford, IL and a $110 million HVAC, lighting, fire and life safety improvement project in the Dirksen Courthouse in Chicago.  The Dirksen Courthouse is the largest federal courthouse in the Judiciary’s inventory. 

Born and raised in Chicago, Tom and his wife Maura have four daughters ages 10, 9,9 and 6 years old and still live in the Chicago area.