Aurelia Marie Pucinski (born April 29, 1947)[1] is a judge on the Illinois Appellate Court for the First District.

[3][4] After beginning her career in a neighborhood law office (1977-1980), Pucinski followed her father's lead into Democratic party politics.

One of her first public efforts was representing citizens who sued the Chicago Board of Education to keep a local school open.

In 1988, clerk of the Cook County Circuit Court Morgan M. Finley was indicted for corruption (for which he would be convicted the following year).

As Circuit Court Clerk, Pucinski became Cook County's first official to institute a code of ethics and internal ethics board, as well as led the office into the 21st century by adopting new technology to improve efficiency and respond to law enforcement, attorneys and all citizens, including greatly improving processing of child support payments.

In August 2002, Governor George Ryan appointed Pucinski to head the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.

She also frequently speaks about elder abuse, including at a Chicago Bar Association panel on third party issues in probate, mental health, guardianship and domestic relations, as well as won the City of Chicago's Luminary Award for developing a program to assist elderly victims of domestic abuse.

[13] Civil rights groups, including Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts, report she has criticized judicial campaign financing.