--- title: "Joe Billy McDade | KnowJudges" canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/joe-billy-mcdade" page_type: "judge_profile" updated: "2026-10-09" --- # Joe Billy McDade U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois · U.S. District Judge ## Profile - Court: U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois - State: Illinois - Role: U.S. District Judge - Service status: senior - Last verified: 2026-07-25 ## Summary Official statewide and applicable court procedural guidance applies to this judge. ## Biography ### Professional career - As of now, McDade remains a Senior Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois, having been in that role since 2010 - Judge, District Court, C.D. Illinois, 1991-2010 - Between 1998 and 2004, he was Chief Judge of the Central District of Illinois - Judge, Illinois Circuit Court, Tenth Judicial Circuit, 1988-1991 - Associate judge, Illinois Circuit Court, Tenth Judicial Circuit, 1982-1988 - Staff attorney, Antitrust Division, U.S. Department of Justice, Chicago, IL, 1963-1965 - Staff attorney, Antitrust Division, U.S. Department of Justice, Chicago, Illinois, 1963-1965 ### Education - University of Michigan Law School — J.D. (1963) - Bradley University — M.S. (1960) - Bradley University — B.S. (1959) ### Additional information - Executive trainee, First Federal Savings and Loan Association, Peoria, IL, 1965-present - In 2014, he sentenced former Illinois judge Michael N. Cook to two years in prison for drug and firearm charges - He held the role of a judge from 1991 until February 28, 2010, when he assumed senior status. - Mitsubishi Motor Manufacturing of America, Inc. (1998). - Nominated by President George H. W. Bush on September 11, 1991 to a newly created seat, confirmed by the Senate on November 21, 1991, and commissioned on November 25, 1991. - Private practice, Peoria, IL, 1968-1982 - Private practice, Peoria, Illinois, 1968-1982 - Executive director, Greater Peoria [Illinois] Legal Aid Society, 1965-1968 - Date of birth: 1937-01-01 - Birth place: Bellville, TX ## Before you appear - Read the judge-specific standing order first when one is listed. - Check the docket and case orders for requirements that supersede broader guidance. - Confirm current remote-access and courtroom technology arrangements before the proceeding. ## Courtroom Rules ### civil remote testimony Scope: courtwide In federal district-court civil proceedings, testimony is ordinarily taken in open court; remote contemporaneous testimony requires good cause in compelling circumstances and appropriate safeguards. Evidence excerpt: For good cause in compelling circumstances and with appropriate safeguards, the court may permit testimony in open court by contemporaneous transmission from a different location. [Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-civil-procedure) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ### criminal recording and broadcasting Scope: courtwide Federal district courts may not permit courtroom photography or broadcasting during criminal judicial proceedings unless a statute or another federal rule provides an exception. Evidence excerpt: Except as otherwise provided by a statute or these rules, the court must not permit the taking of photographs in the courtroom during judicial proceedings or the broadcasting of judicial proceedings from the courtroom. [Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited](https://www.uscourts.gov/court-records/access-court-proceedings/remote-public-access-proceedings/history-cameras-broadcasting-and-remote-public-access-courts) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ## Sources - [Official profile](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1384616) - [Official roster](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1384616) - [Federal Judicial Center biography](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1384616) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/2126/joe-billy-mcdade/) - [Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-civil-procedure) - [Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited](https://www.uscourts.gov/court-records/access-court-proceedings/remote-public-access-proceedings/history-cameras-broadcasting-and-remote-public-access-courts) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/2126/joe-billy-mcdade/) - [Judge Joe Billy McDade](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1384616) - [Wikidata: Joe Billy McDade](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6208647) ## JSON-LD ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/joe-billy-mcdade", "url": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/joe-billy-mcdade", "name": "Joe Billy McDade | KnowJudges", "description": "Joe Billy McDade, U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois. 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Section-specific exceptions, waivers, later amendments and case orders remain applicable. This is a source excerpt, not an exhaustive statement of the rule. [Official source](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/federal-rules-of-civil-procedure.pdf). Collected 2026-10-27. - [Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, December 1, 2025](https://knowjudges.com/courtroom-rules/national-shared-set-8721a344fececced2257fe1d) — Criminal proceedings in United States District Courts; this conservative mapping does not distribute appellate-specific provisions to appellate judges. Section-specific exceptions, waivers, later amendments and case orders remain applicable. This is a source excerpt, not an exhaustive statement of the rule. [Official source](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/federal-rules-of-criminal-procedure.pdf). Collected 2026-10-27.