Illinois Court Records

What is Included in Illinois Public Court Records

Criminal Court Cases

Assault & Battery, Domestic Violence, Parole Violation, Probation Violation, Sexual Assault, Robbery, Manslaughter, Murder, Drug Offenses, And More...

Civil Court Cases

Bankruptcies, Legal Judgments, Lawsuits, Tax & Property Liens, Contract Disputes, Probates, Family Law, Small Claims, Evictions, And More...

Traffic Court Cases

Driving Under Influence, Driving While Intoxicated, Speeding Tickets, Traffic Citations, Reckless Driving, Driving Without a License, License Suspensions, Criminal Driving Violations, Accidents, And More...

Illinois Court Record Lookup

Court documents serve many purposes and are considered public; therefore, anyone can access any Illinois IL court records by performing an Illinois court records search online. Individuals may need these documents to enforce a legal judgment, settle a disputed motor vehicle violation, enroll in a court-mandated class, or prove that a term of probation has been served.

Illinois court records contain Illinois criminal records, traffic violations, civil cases and more information.

Trial Courts

In Illinois, the circuit courts are the only trial courts in the state. These are spread across 24 districts, some courts encompassing more than one rural county while others are limited to one congested urban area.

Circuit courts have divisions within them that handle family matters, such as Illinois child support and custody orders, juvenile cases, oversee some state commissions, probate issues, and small claims, as well as civil and criminal trials. Arbitration panels may be used to settle civil cases depending on the dollar value in dispute. 

A five-year trend shows a significant drop in the number of cases the circuit courts handle, from about 3.2 million to 2.5 million across all categories. These Illinois court records online can be accessed via Illinois court case lookup.

Intermediate Court of Appeals

Panels of three judges sit on hearings of disputed decisions by lower courts. These appeals courts are spread across five districts and involve 24 judges. Over 3,000 cases per year are disposed by these courts each year.

Supreme Court

Seven elected justices occupy the bench of the state’s highest court. This court hears selected cases from lower courts and advises on the constitutionality of laws as well as overseeing the state bar. Over 2,200 new cases are filed with the court each year and an equal number are disposed of, which can ve viewed by Illinois court record lookup.

Federal Court

Each state has at least one U.S. District Court, which is the federal court for that area. These courts have jurisdiction over violations of federal law, cases that involve multiple states, and bankruptcy cases.

Illinois Notable Court Cases

In the midst of turmoil over gun violence and police conduct in Chicago, an appellate court overturned a temporary injunction in mid-2016 that kept police misconduct records away from public scrutiny. After an appeals court said in 2014 that records dating back to 1967 should be available to the public, a police union had won the injunction that sealed records of police wrongdoing and complaints against officers. The information becomes public at a time when the police commissioner resigned over the delayed release of information and inaction by the police regarding an officer shooting a civilian.

An effort to reign in runaway costs of public employee pension programs was declared unconstitutional by the Illinois state Supreme Court in 2016. State legislators had passed the bill because, they said, nearly half the state's budget is spent on retirees. The three-year-old law sought to reduce pension benefits of retirees in order to preserve taxpayer supported programs but the Supreme Court, in its role as final arbiter of questions of constitutionality, determined that the efforts to cut pension costs violated the 1970 state constitution. The Supreme Court's decision was unanimous.

Illinois Civil Case Statistics

Civil Caseload
Civil Caseload 453,811
Caseloads per 100.000 Population
Caseloads per 100.000 Population 3,545
Clearance Rate
Clearance Rate 127%
Small Claims Caseload
Small Claims Caseload 142,895

Civil Caseloads for Illinois, the sum of all civil cases reported by the state, account for 2,509,390 total cases at the year end of 2016, which makes it 3,545 cases per 100.000 population.

The clearance rate for the state is about 127% which makes up by dividing the outgoing to incoming civil cases and expressing the result in a percentage.

Civil Court Incoming & Outgoing Cases 2012-2016

The number of civil court caseloads in 2016 has decreased since 2012, being 453,811 vs. 579,040, which is by 21.6 % lower than 5 years ago. The same picture is seen with clearance rates, it’s lower compared to 2012, by 22.4% being 576,457 compared to 742,888.

State Small Claims & Rates Timeline

Year: Small Claims Max. Limit Small Claims Caseload per 100.000 Population Percent of Total Civil Caseload
2012$10000120,22093421%
2013$10000114,80589121%
2014$10000128,26099627%
2015$10000137,7521,07130%
2016$10000142,8951,11631%

The caseload for small claims has increased since 2012, going from 120,220 cases a year to 142,895 of 2016. The maximum limit of small claim charges has stayed the same at $10,000 in 2016 compared to the $10,000 that was registered 5 years ago.

Accordingly the small claims rate has increased- 1,116 cases per 100 000 population compared to the 934 of 2012. The total percentage of civil caseloads accounts 17.7% for the state of Illinois for 2016.

Criminal Caseloads by Type

Criminal Caseloads for Illinois sum in 286,567 cases at the year end of 2016 which has a share of 73% of misdemeanor and 27% of felony charges. Total criminal cases have decreased in Illinois compared to the criminal caseload of 2012 - 395,829 cases. Felonies and misdemeanors have changed since 2012 by -23% and +6% accordingly.

The Proportion of Felony and Misdemeanor Caseloads

Criminal Incoming Court Cases by type 2012-2016

Criminal Caseloads Timeline

Domestic Relations Caseloads & Clearance Rates

The state’s domestic relations caseload has counted 141,703 cases which is 1,107 court cases per 100.000 population. It has decreased since 2012, the difference in caseloads is 7,899 for the last 5 years, being 149,602 in 2012.

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State Court Holidays

Holiday: Date:
New Year's Day Monday, January 1, 2018
Martin Luther King, Jr. DayMonday, January 15, 2018
Lincoln's BirthdayMonday, February 12, 2018
Washington's Birthday (Obsvd.)Monday, February 19, 2018
Memorial DayMonday, May28, 2018
Independence DayWednesday, July 4, 2018
Labor Day Monday, September 3, 2018
Columbus Day (Obsvd.)Monday, October 8, 2018
Veterans' Day (Obsvd.)Monday, November 12, 2018
Thanksgiving Day Thursday, November 22, 2018
Day Following Thanksgiving DayFriday, November 23, 2018
Christmas Day Tuesday, December 25, 2018

Supreme Court Caseloads & Clearance Rates