(a) Power of court to adopt rules. These rules are promulgated pursuant to the Code of Civil Procedure Section 1-104(b) providing that the Circuit Court may make rules regulating their dockets, calendars, and business and Supreme Court Rule 21 (a) providing that a majority of the circuit judges in each circuit may adopt rules governing civil and criminal cases consistent with rules and statutes and which, so far as practicable, shall be uniform throughout the state.
(b) Existing rules repealed. These rules shall become effective on July 1, 1976. All prior rules of the Circuit Court of Cook County are hereby repealed.
[Amended November 29, 1982, effective December 15, 1982.]
(a) Selection. A majority of the circuit judges of the Circuit Court of Cook County shall select by secret ballot one of their number to serve as Chief Judge for a three (3) year term commencing the First Monday in December, 1975, and shall select a Chief Judge in the same manner every three (3) years thereafter. If a vacancy in the office of Chief Judge should occur prior to the expiration of the three year term, the selection of a successor Chief Judge shall be in accordance with 0.2 (c) and a new election shall be held every three (3) years thereafter.
(b) Acting Chief Judge. In the absence of the Chief Judge, the Chief Judge may select one of the circuit judges to act as Chief Judge.
(c) Vacancy. Whenever a vacancy occurs in the office of the Chief Judge, a majority of the circuit judges shall select a circuit judge for a new three year term to commence upon the date the successor Chief Judge is selected by a majority of the circuit judges or upon the effective date of the vacancy whichever occurs later. The new term shall expire on the First Monday of December following the third anniversary of the commencement date of said term.
[Amended July 30, 2001, effective July 30, 2001.]
(a) Forms of entries. The Chief Judge shall superintend the keeping of the records of the Circuit Court of Cook County and prescribe abbreviated forms of entries therein of the proceedings, orders and judgments of said court, which abbreviated forms so prescribed shall have the same force and effect as if said proceedings, orders and judgments were entered in full on the records of said court in the forms heretofore customary in courts of record of this state. Any entry of a final order or judgment shall be deemed sufficient which will inform any person of ordinary intelligence what the court intended to order or adjudge, and it shall not be necessary to the validity of such final order or judgment that the record should recite all the preliminary proceedings leading up to such final order or judgment, but all such necessary preliminary proceedings shall be presumed to have been taken in the absence of anything appearing in the record of the case to the contrary.
(b) Half-sheets. The Chief Judge may also prescribe that a half-sheet, a memorandum of papers filed, proceedings, orders and judgments, shall be kept by the Clerk in such cases as may be directed.
(c) Pursuant to the authority conferred upon the Chief Judge of the Circuit Court by the Constitution of the State of Illinois, the authority of 705 ILCS 105/22, and the inherent authority of the Court to control the record keeping of the Clerk of the Circuit Court, the Chief Judge is authorized to create a committee composed of judges of the Circuit Court for the purpose of examining the record keeping of the Clerk of the Circuit Court. The committee shall study the record keeping of the Clerk of the Circuit Court and shall make recommendations to the Chief Judge regarding the same. The Chief Judge shall then enter orders or give directions regarding the keeping of the records.
[Amended September 28, 1995, effective October 2, 1995.]
(a) The Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County shall perform the duties usually performed by the Clerk as provided in "An Act to revise the law in relation to clerks of courts," Chapter 25, Illinois Revised Statutes. He shall maintain his principal office at Room 1001, Richard J. Daley Center, Chicago, Illinois, and shall also maintain an office in each division of the County Department and in each District of the Municipal Department.
(b) Hours of the offices of the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County. Effective April 23, 2001, each office of the Clerk of the Court for the County Department, except as otherwise provided, located at the Richard J. Daley Center, Chicago, Illinois, and each office of the Clerk of the Court for Districts One through Six of the Municipal Department and the office of the Clerk of the Court for the Criminal Division shall be open for the transaction of business from 8:30 o’clock a.m., to 4:30 o’clock p.m., of each working day. The free filing kiosk operated by the Clerk of the Court and located in the Richard J. Daley Center, Chicago, Illinois, shall be open for the transaction of business from 8:00 o’clock a.m., to 5:00 o’clock p.m., of each working day.
On Saturday, July 3, 1976, and each Saturday thereafter, all offices of the Clerk of the Court located in the Richard J. Daley Center, Chicago, Illinois, shall be closed. The time for filing all motions, pleadings and suits is extended to the next business day of this court.
On Saturday, February 4, 1978, and each Saturday thereafter, the Clerk of the Court shall not accept civil filings for Districts Two through Six of the Municipal Department. The time for filing all motions, pleadings and suits in civil matters is extended to the next business day of this court.
The Clerk of the Court may close such of the remaining offices as the Clerk may deem proper on Saturday at the hour of 12 o’clock noon.
Weekend and Holiday Branches, District One, Municipal Department. The Clerk shall assign deputy clerks to the branches established by the Presiding Judge of District One, and the Presiding Judges of Districts Two through Six, pursuant to General Order No. 9 for the arraignment, hearing, trial and determination of offenses on Saturday, Sundays, and legal holidays, including night court sessions. For the purpose of receiving and filing papers and issuing writs and the performance of other work in criminal and quasi-criminal actions, the Clerk shall require the attendance, during additional hours of each day, of such number of deputy clerks as may be necessary.
(c) The Clerk of the Circuit Court is authorized to appoint officers and employees of governmental agencies as Deputy Clerks to:
- administer oaths to persons who sign complaints for violation of laws;
- execute subpoenas requiring the appearance of witnesses regarding said violations;
- take sworn statements from arresting officers under Section 11-501.1 of the Illinois Motor Vehicle Code [625 ILCS 5/11-501.1];
- administer oaths to persons who execute bail bonds as sureties;
- accept and file on behalf of the Clerk complaints for ordinance violations where no jail sentence could be imposed;
- issue summons with respect thereto under the seal of the court, tested in the name of the Clerk, and signed with his name;
- mail such summons with copy of complaint attached thereto by certified mail return receipt requested with the cost of postage to be borne by the plaintiff; and
- accept the filing of appearances in said case.
Deputy Clerks so appointed, shall serve only in the capacity herein stated and without compensation.
Deputy Clerks so appointed, shall enter upon the duties of their office immediately after appointment or as soon thereafter as said Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County shall deem expedient; and shall, upon taking office, be bonded as provided for other Deputy Clerks of the Circuit Court of Cook County, the premium therefor to be paid by the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County.
[Amended, effective April 18, 2005.]
(a) Grand Jurors. The Chief Judge or his designate shall certify to the Clerk of the Court the number of grand jurors required each month. Persons summoned for service as grand jurors shall be called for the first Monday of each month (or if the first Monday be a holiday, then the next business day of this Court) and shall serve for a period of one month and until the impaneling of the next regular Grand Jury of the following month. The court, on its own motion or on petition of the State's Attorney or the foreman and 11 other grand jurors, may for good cause extend the term of any Grand Jury from time to time for successive periods of not more than 30 days each. No such Grand Jury shall serve in excess of 18 months and not more than six Grand Juries shall sit at the same time.
(b) Petit jurors. The Chief Judge or his designate shall certify to the Clerk of the Court the number of petit jurors required each month. Persons summoned for service as petit jurors shall be called for each day of each week and shall serve for one day unless during that day they are impaneled as jurors in a trial. In the event of such impanelment, the person so impaneled shall serve for the length of the trial and then be excused. Any judge or associate judge may extend the term of any petit jury or jurors from time to time as justice may require.
(c) The following Parts of the County of Cook for the purpose of drawing electors for jury service are determined to be most favorable to an impartial trial while not incurring unnecessary expense nor unduly burdening the citizens of Cook County with jury service:
1. Part I the entire County
2. Part II Zip Code areas:
60004 60005 60007 60008 60010 60015 60016 60018 60022 60025 60029 60043 60053 60056 60062 60067 60068 60070 60076 60077 60090 60091 60093 60103 60104 60106 60120 60130 60131 60153 60160 60161 60162 60163 60164 60165 60171 60172 60176 60194 60195 60201 60202 60203 60204 60301 60302 60303 60304 60305 60601 60605 60606 60607 60610 60611 60612 60613 60614 60618 60622 60624 60625 60626 60630 60631 60634 60635 60639 60640 60641 60644 60645 60646 60647 60648 60651 60656 60659 60660
3. Part III Zip Code areas:
60402 60406 60409 60411 60415 60419 60422 60425 60426 60429 60430 60438 60439 60443 60445 60452 60453 60454 60455 60456 60457 60458 60459 60461 60462 60463 60464 60465 60466 60469 60471 60473 60475 60476 60477 60480 60482 60501 60513 60521 60525 60534 60546 60558 60608 60609 60615 60616 60617 60619 60620 60621 60623 60627 60628 60629 60632 60633 60636 60637 60638 60642 60643 60649 60650 60652 60653 60655 60658.
(d) Electors shall be summoned to jury service to a facility within that Part of the County from which their names were drawn. The Chief Judge shall by order fix places for appearance in response to summons for jury duty and for the assembly of jurors consistent with (c) above.
(e) Excuse. The Chief Judge or his designate shall have charge of excusing jurors from jury service, impaneling them, regulating their assignment to the various judges, and supervising the recording of their services.
[Amended January 10, 1990, effective January 16, 1990.]
(a) Solicitation of business relating to bail bonds or to employment as counsel in the courthouses is prohibited.
(b) Loitering in or about the rooms or corridors of the courthouses is prohibited. Unapproved group congregating or the causing of a disturbance or nuisance in the courthouses of the Circuit Court of Cook County is prohibited. Picketing or parading outside of the building housing the Court within the immediate proximity of the Court is prohibited only when such picketing or parading obstruct or impede the orderly administration of justice.
(c) The Sheriff of Cook County, his deputies, and the Custodian of the courthouses shall enforce this rule, either by ejecting violators from the courthouses or by causing them to appear before one of the judges of this court for a hearing and for imposition of such punishment as the court may deem proper.
[Adopted May 17, 1976, effective July 1, 1976.]
The Circuit Judges of the Circuit Court of Cook County shall appoint associate judges pursuant to Article VI, Sections 8 and 10, Constitution of Illinois, 1970 and Rule 39, Rules of the Supreme Court, as amended. Such associate judges shall reside in Cook County, and shall be appointed on a non-partisan merit basis. Only a person licensed to practice law in Illinois and in good standing shall be eligible for the office of associate judge. All appointees shall be persons of good moral character and reputation, and shall have been actively engaged in the practice of law for at least six years immediately preceding their appointment.
[Adopted May 17, 1976, effective July 1, 1976.]
[Deleted July 27, 1988, effective August 5, 1988.]