Craig H. DeArmond was born in 1950. He received a B.A. degree in Anthropology from the University of Iowa in 1972 and obtained his J.D. degree with honors from the John Marshall Law School in 1975. He was admitted to the Illinois bar the same year.

Justice DeArmond began his legal career as an Assistant State's Attorney in Vermilion County, where he served for four years. He then practiced as an associate in private practice for Harlan Heller Ltd for three years and another local firm for two years before being elected State's Attorney for Vermilion County in 1984 and re-elected in 1988. He was in private practice from 1992 to 2000, primarily in the areas of state and federal criminal defense.

Elected Circuit Judge in 2000, Justice DeArmond won retention in 2006 and 2012.  In 2013, Justice DeArmond became the Presiding Judge for Vermilion County, and in 2014, he was elected Chief Judge for the Fifth Judicial Circuit and re-elected in 2016. He was assigned to the Fourth District Appellate Court on September 1, 2017.

Justice DeArmond has been a frequent presenter at both the annual New Judge School and the mandatory biennial judicial education program for all Illinois judges known as Ed Con. He has served on the Supreme Court Committee on Capital Litigation and the Committee on Education. Prior to being elected to the bench, Justice DeArmond taught for the Illinois State Police, and he presented for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the International Association of Arson Investigators, among others. He serves on the Illinois Judicial Conference as the Vice Chair of the Committee for Trial Court Administrator Education, which is a part of the newly formed Illinois Judicial College.

Justice DeArmond is a member of the Illinois Judge's Association and the Vermilion County Bar Association. He is married and has one son.