SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — A spokesman for the Illinois Supreme Court says Chief Justice Thomas Fitzgerald will retire and a state appellate court justice will fill in for him.

Spokesman Joe Tybor says Fitzgerald told his colleagues about his decision on Monday. Tybor says Fitzgerald will retire next month and won’t run to be retained on the bench. The Chicago Tribune reports Fitzgerald was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease this month.

The high court spokesman says starting Oct. 26 Appellate Court Justice Mary Jane Theis will take over for Fitzgerald for just more than two years.

Tybor says the next election for an Illinois Supreme Court justice will be in 2012.

Fitzgerald was elected to the state Supreme Court in 2000 and became chief justice in 2008.

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Information from: Chicago Tribune, http://www.chicagotribune.com