CHICAGO – A newly elected Cook County Circuit Court judge who refused to report to his traffic court assignment has resigned.

The Chicago Tribune reported an Illinois Supreme Court spokesman says Richard Cooke resigned Tuesday. The move came after a committee of presiding judges referred his refusal to take up the traffic court assignment to the Judicial Inquiry Board. The state agency investigates allegations of judicial misconduct.

Cooke was elected in November. A spokesman for Cook County Chief Judge Tim Evans says that for weeks, Cooke refused his assignment to traffic court. That is where nearly all Cook County judges get experience and learn court operations.

Cooke was eventually assigned to marriage court, where he received a $194,000-a-year salary to preside over weddings.

There has been no comment from Cooke.

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