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Joseph
E. Birkett grew up on Chicago’s West Side along with
his nine brothers and sisters. His father died when
Joe was just thirteen years old but with the strength
and guidance of his mother, the entire family worked
hard to pull through the tough times.
Following
his graduation from St. Thomas Aquinas Elementary School,
Joe attended St. Phillip High School in Chicago which
closed in 1970 after his freshman year. Joe then accepted
a football scholarship from Aurora Central Catholic
where he went on to become the Team Captain and Most
Valuable Player. He was also named to the National Honor
Society for his academic excellence. Joe accepted another
football scholarship from North Central College in Naperville
where he again was voted the Team Captain. During his
college days, Joe won the Chicago Golden Gloves and
Chicago Park District Light-Heavyweight Boxing Championships.
In 1977, Joe graduated with honors, earning Degrees
in Political Science and English.
Joe married his high school sweetheart Patti Hill who
helped him finance his law school tuition while she
worked at AT&T Bell Labs. While at John Marshall Law
School, Joe placed first in the Intramural Moot Court
Competition and was named to the school’s Constitutional
Moot Court Team. Joe received his Law Degree in 1981
and was admitted to the Illinois Bar later that same
year.
Joe became
an Assistant State’s Attorney in DuPage County in October
1981 and advanced rapidly through the Criminal Division.
In 1985, he was promoted to Chief of the Major Crimes
Unit, prosecuting drug delivery cases. The next year
Joe was named Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division.
He served from 1991 until October of 1996 as the Chief
of the Criminal Division, supervising more than fifty
prosecutors, ten investigators, victim/witness advocates,
law clerks and paralegals. He has tried over one hundred
felony cases to verdict including death penalty jury
trials.
On October
1, 1996, Joe was sworn in as DuPage County State’s Attorney,
completing the unexpired term of Jim Ryan who was elected
Illinois Attorney General, and Anthony Peccarelli who
was appointed State’s Attorney in January of 1995. One
month later, Joe was elected to the position for a four-year
term, and in November of 2000 he was re-elected for
another four-year term. He was the Republican Nominee
for Illinois Attorney General in 2002 and won all 102
Counties in the Primary Election. He was reelected to
his third term as State’s Attorney in 2004.
Joe is
a teacher, a frequent lecturer across the nation, and
an award-winning administrator. He has been responsible
for initiating policy and procedures and for training
junior prosecutors. Throughout his career, Joe has received
numerous awards and commendations for prosecutorial
excellence from State’s Attorneys, law enforcement agencies
and victims. He is a Past President of the Association
of Government Attorneys in Capital Litigation, and is
also a member of the American and DuPage County Bar
Associations, DuPage American Inns of Court, Delta Theta
Phi Law Fraternity, the Illinois House of Representatives
Capital Punishment Task Force, the Illinois Governor’s
Criminal Code Rewrite Commission and is an adjunct faculty
member at National Louis University in Wheaton.
Joe donates
time to coaching basketball, boxing and baseball. He
and his wife Patti have been residents of DuPage County
since 1977. They live in Wheaton with their two children
and are members of St. Daniel’s Church.
