Staff Attorney - Courtney Stout

Courtney Stout joined the Illinois Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission as a Staff Attorney in January of 2026. Courtney has dedicated her career to public service and advocacy for vulnerable populations. Just prior to joining TIRC, she worked under Refugee and International Operations for USCIS as a Training Officer. Before training other officers on various aspects of adjudicating humanitarian immigration petitions for overseas applicants, Courtney traveled around the world interviewing refugees for admission to the US Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) as a refugee officer. She interviewed at sea on United States Coast Guard cutters in the Florida Straits and in urban settings world-wide. Before working as a refugee officer, she worked as an asylum officer and adjudicated petitions for asylum including both affirmative and defensive asylum for the Chicago Asylum Office. Courtney began her legal career after graduating from Vermont Law School with Vermont Legal Aid as a Staff Attorney for the Victims of Crime Advocacy project.