HB1346eng 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HB1346 Engrossed LRB095 11238 JAM 31712 b

AN ACT concerning courts.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Circuit Courts Act is amended by changing Section 2f-9 and by adding Section 2k as follows:

(705 ILCS 35/2f-9)

Sec. 2f-9. 16th judicial circuit; subcircuits.

(a) The 16th circuit shall be divided into 5 subcircuits. The subcircuits shall be compact, contiguous, and substantially equal in population. The General Assembly by law shall create the subcircuits, using population data as determined by the 2000 federal census, and shall determine a numerical order for the 5 subcircuits. That numerical order shall be the basis for the order in which resident judgeships are assigned to the subcircuits. Once a resident judgeship is assigned to a subcircuit, it shall continue to be assigned to that subcircuit for all purposes.

(b) Of the 16th circuit's 16 existing circuit judgeships existing on April 7, 2005 (7 at large and 9 resident), but not including the one resident judgeship added by this amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly, 5 of the 9 resident judgeships shall be allotted as 16th circuit resident judgeships under subsection (c) as (i) the first resident judgeship of DeKalb County, (ii) the first resident judgeship of Kendall County, and (iii) the first 2 resident judgeships of Kane County are or become vacant on or after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly, and (iv) the first resident judgeship of Kane County (in addition to the 2 vacancies under item (iii)) is or becomes vacant after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 94th General Assembly. These 5 resident subcircuit judgeships and the remaining 5 4 resident judgeships shall constitute all of the resident judgeships of the 16th circuit. As used in this subsection, a vacancy does not include the expiration of a term of a resident judge who seeks retention in that office at the next term.

(c) The Supreme Court shall allot the first DeKalb County vacancy, the first eligible Kendall County vacancy, and the first 3 Kane County vacancies in resident judgeships of the 16th circuit as provided in subsection (b), for election from the various subcircuits. The judgeships shall be assigned to the subcircuits based upon the numerical order of the 5 subcircuits. No resident judge of the 16th circuit serving on the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly shall be required to change his or her residency in order to continue serving in office or to seek retention in office as judgeships are allotted by the Supreme Court in accordance with this Section.

(d) A resident judge elected from a subcircuit shall continue to reside in that subcircuit as long as he or she holds that office.

(e) Vacancies in resident judgeships of the 16th circuit shall be filled in the manner provided in Article VI of the Illinois Constitution.

(Source: P.A. 93-1102, eff. 4-7-05; 94-3, eff. 5-31-05.)

(705 ILCS 35/2k new)

Sec. 2k. Additional 16th circuit resident judge. In addition to the number of circuit judges otherwise authorized by this Act, there shall be one additional judge elected in the 16th judicial circuit who shall be a resident of and elected from Kendall County. The additional resident circuit judgeship created by this Section may be filled by appointment by the Illinois Supreme Court until the judgeship is filled by election beginning at the 2008 general election. The judgeship provided by this Section shall not be a subcircuit judgeship.

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1, 2007.