Full Text of SB1608 102nd General Assembly
SB1608 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
| | 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2021 and 2022 SB1608 Introduced 2/26/2021, by Sen. Bill Cunningham SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: | | 705 ILCS 35/2 | from Ch. 37, par. 72.2 | 705 ILCS 35/2f | from Ch. 37, par. 72.2f | 705 ILCS 40/2 | from Ch. 37, par. 72.42 | 705 ILCS 45/2 | from Ch. 37, par. 160.2 |
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Amends the Circuit Courts Act, the Judicial Vacancies Act, and the
Associate Judges Act.
Increases the number of resident judges in Cook County from 165 to 270, the new
judges to replace vacating judges as vacancies occur in Cook County circuit
judgeships and associate judgeships. Reduces the number of circuit
judges in Cook County by 94 as vacancies occur on and after the effective date
of the amendatory Act. Reduces the number of associate judges in Cook
County by 11 as vacancies occur on and after the effective date of the
amendatory Act. Provides that resident judgeship vacancies shall be
filled by appointment by the Supreme Court.
Effective immediately. |
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| | | JUDICIAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY | |
| | A BILL FOR |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning courts.
| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, | 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
| 4 | | Section 5. The Circuit Courts Act is amended by changing | 5 | | Sections 2 and 2f
as follows:
| 6 | | (705 ILCS 35/2) (from Ch. 37, par. 72.2)
| 7 | | Sec. 2. Circuit judges shall be elected at the general | 8 | | elections and
for terms as provided in Article VI of the | 9 | | Illinois Constitution.
Ninety-four circuit judges shall be | 10 | | elected in the Circuit of Cook
County prior to the effective | 11 | | date of this amendatory Act of
the 102nd General Assembly, and | 12 | | for
each vacancy that exists on or occurs on or after the | 13 | | effective date of this
amendatory Act of
the 102nd General | 14 | | Assembly, that number shall be reduced by one until the 94
| 15 | | circuit judgeships have been allocated to subcircuits, and 3 | 16 | | circuit
judges shall be elected in each of the other
circuits | 17 | | except as provided in this Section. In circuits other than | 18 | | Cook County containing a population
of 230,000 or more | 19 | | inhabitants and in which there is included a county
containing | 20 | | a population of 200,000 or more inhabitants, or in circuits
| 21 | | other than Cook County containing a population of 270,000 or | 22 | | more
inhabitants, according to the last preceding federal | 23 | | census and in the
circuit where the seat of State government is |
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| 1 | | situated at the time fixed
by law for the nomination of judges | 2 | | of the Circuit Court in such circuit
and in any circuit which | 3 | | meets the requirements set out in Section 2a of
this Act, 4 | 4 | | circuit judges shall be elected in the manner provided by
law. | 5 | | In circuits other than Cook County in which each county in the
| 6 | | circuit has a population of 475,000 or more, 4 circuit judges | 7 | | shall be
elected in addition to the 4 circuit judges provided | 8 | | for in this
Section. In any circuit composed of 2 counties | 9 | | having a total
population of 350,000 or more, one circuit | 10 | | judge shall be elected in
addition to the 4 circuit judges | 11 | | provided for in this Section.
| 12 | | Any additional circuit judgeships in the 19th and 22nd | 13 | | judicial circuits resulting by operation of this Section shall | 14 | | be filled, if at all, at the general election in 2006 only as | 15 | | provided in Section 2f-1. Thereafter, however, this Section | 16 | | shall not apply to the determination of the number of circuit | 17 | | judgeships in the 19th and 22nd judicial circuits. The number | 18 | | of circuit judgeships in the 19th judicial circuit shall be | 19 | | determined thereafter in accordance with Section 2f-1 and | 20 | | Section 2f-2 and shall be reduced in accordance with those | 21 | | Sections. The number of circuit judgeships in the 22nd | 22 | | judicial circuit shall be determined thereafter in accordance | 23 | | with Section 2f-1 and Section 2f-5 and shall be reduced in | 24 | | accordance with those Sections.
| 25 | | Notwithstanding the provisions of this Section or any | 26 | | other law, the number
of at large judgeships of the 12th |
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| 1 | | judicial circuit may be reduced as provided in subsections | 2 | | (a-10) and (a-15) of Section 2f-4.
| 3 | | In the 23rd judicial circuit, there shall be no at large | 4 | | circuit judgeships and only resident circuit judges shall be | 5 | | elected as provided in Sections 2f-10 and 2f-11. | 6 | | The
several judges of the circuit courts of this State, | 7 | | before entering upon
the duties of their office, shall take | 8 | | and subscribe the following oath
or affirmation, which shall | 9 | | be filed in the office of the Secretary of
State:
| 10 | | "I do solemnly swear (or affirm, as the case may be) that I | 11 | | will
support the constitution of the United States, and the | 12 | | constitution of
the State of Illinois, and that I will | 13 | | faithfully discharge the duties
of judge of.... court, | 14 | | according to the best of my ability."
| 15 | | One of the 3 additional circuit judgeships authorized by
| 16 | | this amendatory Act in circuits other than Cook County in | 17 | | which each
county in the circuit has a population of 475,000 or | 18 | | more may be filled
when this Act becomes law. The 2 remaining | 19 | | circuit
judgeships in such circuits shall not be filled until | 20 | | on or after July
1, 1977.
| 21 | | (Source: P.A. 96-108, eff. 7-30-09; 97-1069, eff. 8-24-12.)
| 22 | | (705 ILCS 35/2f) (from Ch. 37, par. 72.2f)
| 23 | | Sec. 2f. (a) The Circuit of Cook County shall be divided | 24 | | into 15
units to be known as subcircuits. The subcircuits | 25 | | shall be compact,
contiguous, and substantially equal in |
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| 1 | | population.
The General Assembly
shall create the subcircuits | 2 | | by law on or before
July 1, 1991, using population data as | 3 | | determined by the 1990 Federal census.
| 4 | | (a-5) In 2021, the General Assembly shall redraw the | 5 | | boundaries of the subcircuits to reflect the results of the | 6 | | 2020 federal decennial census. The General Assembly shall | 7 | | redraw the subcircuit boundaries after every federal decennial | 8 | | census. The subcircuits shall be compact, contiguous, and | 9 | | substantially equal in population. In accordance with | 10 | | subsection (d), a resident judgeship assigned to a subcircuit | 11 | | shall continue to be assigned to that subcircuit. Any vacancy | 12 | | in a resident judgeship existing on or occurring after the | 13 | | effective date of a law redrawing the boundaries of the | 14 | | subcircuits shall be filled by a resident of the redrawn | 15 | | subcircuit. | 16 | | (b) The 270 165 resident judges to be elected from the | 17 | | Circuit of Cook
County shall be determined under paragraph (4) | 18 | | of subsection (a) of Section 2 of the
Judicial Vacancies Act.
| 19 | | (c) The Supreme Court shall allot (i) the additional | 20 | | resident judgeships
provided by paragraph (4) of subsection | 21 | | (a) of Section 2 of the Judicial Vacancies Act
and (ii) all | 22 | | vacancies in
resident judgeships existing on or occurring on | 23 | | or after February 15, 1991 the effective date
of this | 24 | | amendatory Act of 1990 ,
with respect to the other resident | 25 | | judgeships of the Circuit
of Cook County, for election from | 26 | | the various subcircuits until there are
18 11 resident judges |
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| 1 | | to be
elected from each of the 15 subcircuits (for a total of | 2 | | 270 165 ). A resident
judgeship authorized before February 15, | 3 | | 1991 the effective date of this amendatory Act of
1990 that | 4 | | became vacant and was filled by appointment by the Supreme | 5 | | Court
before February 15, 1991 that effective date shall be | 6 | | filled by election at the general
election in November of 1992 | 7 | | from the unit of the Circuit of Cook County
within Chicago or | 8 | | the unit of that Circuit outside Chicago, as the case may
be, | 9 | | in which the vacancy occurred.
| 10 | | (d) As soon as practicable after the subcircuits are | 11 | | created by law, the
Supreme Court shall determine by lot a | 12 | | numerical order for the 15
subcircuits. That numerical order | 13 | | shall be the basis for the order in which resident
judgeships | 14 | | are assigned to the subcircuits. After the first round of
| 15 | | assignments, the second and all later rounds shall be based on | 16 | | the same
numerical order. Once a resident judgeship is | 17 | | assigned to a subcircuit,
it shall continue to be assigned to | 18 | | that subcircuit for all purposes.
| 19 | | (e) A resident judge elected from a subcircuit shall | 20 | | continue to reside
in that subcircuit as long as he or she | 21 | | holds that office. A resident judge elected from a subcircuit | 22 | | after January 1, 2008, must retain residency as a registered | 23 | | voter in the subcircuit to run for retention from the circuit | 24 | | at large thereafter.
| 25 | | (Source: P.A. 101-477, eff. 6-1-20 .)
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| 1 | | Section 10. The Judicial Vacancies Act is amended by | 2 | | changing Section 2 as
follows:
| 3 | | (705 ILCS 40/2) (from Ch. 37, par. 72.42)
| 4 | | Sec. 2. (a) Except as provided in paragraphs (1),
(2), | 5 | | (3), (4), and (5) of this subsection (a),
vacancies in the | 6 | | office of a resident circuit judge in any county or in any
unit | 7 | | or subcircuit of any circuit shall not be filled.
| 8 | | (1) If in any county of less than 45,000 inhabitants | 9 | | there remains
in office no other resident judge following | 10 | | the occurrence of a vacancy,
such vacancy shall be filled.
| 11 | | (2) If in any county of 45,000 or more but less than | 12 | | 60,000
inhabitants there remains in office only one | 13 | | resident judge following
the occurrence of a vacancy, such | 14 | | vacancy shall be filled.
| 15 | | (3) If in any county of 60,000 or more inhabitants, | 16 | | other than the
County of Cook or as provided in paragraph | 17 | | (5), there remain in office no
more than 2 resident judges
| 18 | | following the occurrence of a vacancy, such vacancy shall | 19 | | be filled.
| 20 | | (4) The County of Cook shall have 270 165 resident | 21 | | judges on
and after the effective date of this amendatory | 22 | | Act of the 102nd General Assembly 1990 . Of those
resident | 23 | | judgeships, (i) 56 shall be those authorized before | 24 | | February 15, 1991 the effective
date of this amendatory | 25 | | Act of 1990 from the unit of the Circuit of Cook
County |
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| 1 | | within Chicago, (ii) 27 shall be those authorized before | 2 | | February 15, 1991 the
effective date of this amendatory | 3 | | Act of 1990 from the unit of the Circuit
of Cook County | 4 | | outside Chicago, (iii) 12 shall be additional resident
| 5 | | judgeships first elected at the general election in | 6 | | November of 1992,
(iv) 10 shall be additional resident | 7 | | judgeships first elected at the
general election in | 8 | | November of 1994, and (v) 60 shall be additional
resident | 9 | | judgeships to be authorized
one each for each
reduction | 10 | | upon vacancy in the office of associate judge in the | 11 | | Circuit of
Cook County as those vacancies
exist or occur | 12 | | on and after February 15, 1991 the effective date of this | 13 | | amendatory Act of
1990 and as those vacancies are
| 14 | | determined under subsection (b) of Section 2 of the | 15 | | Associate Judges Act
until the total
resident judgeships | 16 | | authorized under this item (v) is 60 , (vi) 11 shall be
| 17 | | additional resident judgeships to be authorized one each | 18 | | for each reduction
upon vacancy in the office of associate | 19 | | judge in the Circuit of Cook County as
those vacancies | 20 | | exist or occur on and after the effective date of this
| 21 | | amendatory Act of
the 102nd General Assembly
and as those | 22 | | vacancies are determined under subsection
(b) of Section 2 | 23 | | of the Associate Judges Act until the total resident
| 24 | | judgeships authorized under this item (vi) is 11, and | 25 | | (vii) 94 shall be
additional resident judgeships to be | 26 | | authorized one each for each reduction
upon vacancy in the |
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| 1 | | office of circuit judge in the Circuit of Cook County as
| 2 | | those vacancies exist or occur on and after the effective | 3 | | date of this
amendatory Act of
the 102nd General Assembly
| 4 | | and as those vacancies are determined under Section 2 of
| 5 | | the Circuit Courts Act until the total resident judgeships | 6 | | authorized under
this item (vii) is 94 . Seven of the 12
| 7 | | additional resident judgeships provided in item (iii)
may | 8 | | be filled by appointment by the Supreme Court during the
| 9 | | period beginning on February 15, 1991 the effective date | 10 | | of this amendatory Act of 1990 and
ending 60 days before | 11 | | the primary election in March of 1992; those judicial
| 12 | | appointees shall serve until the first Monday in December | 13 | | of 1992. Five
of the 12 additional resident judgeships | 14 | | provided in item (iii) may be
filled by appointment by the | 15 | | Supreme Court during the period beginning July
1, 1991 and | 16 | | ending 60 days before the primary election in March of | 17 | | 1992;
those judicial appointees shall serve until the | 18 | | first Monday in December of
1992. Five of the 10 | 19 | | additional resident judgeships provided in item (iv)
may | 20 | | be filled by appointment by the Supreme Court during the | 21 | | period
beginning July 1, 1992 and ending 60 days before | 22 | | the primary election in
March of 1994; those judicial | 23 | | appointees shall serve until the first Monday
in December | 24 | | of 1994. The remaining 5 of the 10 additional resident
| 25 | | judgeships provided in item (iv) may be filled by | 26 | | appointment by the
Supreme Court during the period |
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| 1 | | beginning July 1, 1993 and ending 60 days
before the | 2 | | primary election in March of 1994; those judicial | 3 | | appointees
shall serve until the first Monday in December | 4 | | 1994. The additional
resident judgeships created upon | 5 | | vacancy in the office of associate judge
provided in item | 6 | | (v) may be filled by appointment by the Supreme Court
| 7 | | beginning on February 15, 1991, and the additional | 8 | | resident judgeships
created
upon vacancy in the office of | 9 | | associate judge provided in item (vi) and in the
office of | 10 | | the circuit judge provided in item (vii) may be filled by | 11 | | appointment
by the Supreme Court beginning on the | 12 | | effective date of this amendatory Act
of
the 102nd General | 13 | | Assembly the effective date of this amendatory Act of | 14 | | 1990 ; but no
additional resident judgeships created upon | 15 | | vacancy in the office of
associate judge provided in item | 16 | | (v) shall be filled during the 59 day
period before the | 17 | | next primary election to nominate judges.
The Circuit of | 18 | | Cook County shall be
divided into units to be known as | 19 | | subcircuits as provided in Section 2f of
the Circuit | 20 | | Courts Act.
A vacancy in the office of resident judge of | 21 | | the
Circuit of Cook County existing on or occurring on or | 22 | | after February 15,
1991 the effective
date of this | 23 | | amendatory Act of 1990 , but before the date the | 24 | | subcircuits
are created by law, shall be filled by | 25 | | appointment by the Supreme Court
from the unit within | 26 | | Chicago or the
unit outside Chicago, as the case may be, in |
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| 1 | | which the vacancy occurs and
filled by election from the | 2 | | subcircuit to which it is allotted under
Section 2f of the | 3 | | Circuit Courts Act. A
vacancy in the office
of resident | 4 | | judge of the
Circuit of Cook County existing on or | 5 | | occurring on or after the
date the subcircuits are created | 6 | | by law
shall be
filled by appointment by the Supreme Court | 7 | | and by election from the subcircuit
to
which it is | 8 | | allotted under Section 2f of the Circuit Courts Act.
| 9 | | (5) Notwithstanding paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of | 10 | | this subsection (a), resident judges in the 12th, 16th, | 11 | | 17th, 19th, 22nd, and 23rd
judicial circuits
are as | 12 | | provided in Sections 2f-1, 2f-2, 2f-4, 2f-5, 2f-6, 2f-9, | 13 | | and 2f-10 of
the Circuit
Courts Act.
| 14 | | (b) Nothing in paragraphs (2) or (3) of subsection (a) of | 15 | | this
Section shall be construed
to require or permit in any | 16 | | county a greater number of resident judges
than there were | 17 | | resident associate judges on January 1, 1967.
| 18 | | (c) Vacancies authorized to be filled by this Section 2 | 19 | | shall be filled
in the manner provided in Article VI of the | 20 | | Constitution.
| 21 | | (d) A person appointed to fill a vacancy in the office of | 22 | | circuit judge
shall be, at the time of appointment, a resident | 23 | | of the subcircuit from which
the person whose vacancy is
being | 24 | | filled was elected if the vacancy occurred in a circuit | 25 | | divided into
subcircuits. If a vacancy
in the office of | 26 | | circuit judge occurred in a circuit not divided into
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| 1 | | subcircuits, a person appointed to fill the vacancy shall be, | 2 | | at the time of
appointment, a resident of the
circuit from | 3 | | which the person whose vacancy is being filled was elected.
| 4 | | Except as provided in Sections 2f-1, 2f-2, 2f-4, 2f-5, 2f-6, | 5 | | and 2f-9
of the
Circuit Courts
Act, if a
vacancy occurred in | 6 | | the office of a resident circuit judge, a person appointed
to
| 7 | | fill the vacancy shall be, at the time of appointment, a | 8 | | resident of the county
from which the person whose
vacancy is | 9 | | being filled was elected.
| 10 | | (Source: P.A. 98-744, eff. 7-16-14.)
| 11 | | Section 15. The Associate Judges Act is amended by | 12 | | changing Section 2 as
follows:
| 13 | | (705 ILCS 45/2) (from Ch. 37, par. 160.2)
| 14 | | Sec. 2. (a) The maximum number of associate judges | 15 | | authorized for each
circuit is the greater of the applicable | 16 | | minimum number specified in this
Section or one for each | 17 | | 35,000 or fraction thereof in population as
determined
by the | 18 | | last preceding Federal census, except for circuits with a | 19 | | population of
more than 3,000,000 where the maximum number of | 20 | | associate judges is one for
each 29,000 or fraction thereof in | 21 | | population as determined by the last
preceding federal census, | 22 | | reduced in circuits of less than 200,000 inhabitants
by the | 23 | | number of resident circuit judges elected in the circuit in | 24 | | excess of
one per county. In addition, in circuits of |
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| 1 | | 1,000,000 or more inhabitants,
there shall be one additional | 2 | | associate judge authorized for each
municipal
district of the | 3 | | circuit court. The number of associate judges to be appointed
| 4 | | in each circuit, not to exceed the maximum authorized, shall | 5 | | be
determined from
time to time by the Circuit Court. The | 6 | | minimum number of associate judges
authorized for any circuit | 7 | | consisting of a single county shall be
14, except that the | 8 | | minimum in the 22nd circuit shall be 8 and except that the | 9 | | minimum in the 19th circuit on and after December 4, 2006 shall | 10 | | be 20. The
minimum number of associate judges authorized for | 11 | | any circuit consisting of 2
counties with a combined | 12 | | population of at least 275,000 but less than 300,000
shall be | 13 | | 10. The minimum number of associate judges authorized
for any | 14 | | circuit
with a population of at least 303,000 but not more than | 15 | | 309,000 shall
be 10.
The minimum number of associate judges | 16 | | authorized for any circuit with a
population of at least | 17 | | 329,000, but not more than 349,999 shall be
11. The
minimum | 18 | | number of associate judges authorized for any circuit with a | 19 | | population
of at least 173,000 shall be 5. As
used in this
| 20 | | Section, the term "resident circuit judge" has the meaning | 21 | | given it in the
Judicial Vacancies Act.
| 22 | | (b) The maximum number of associate judges authorized | 23 | | under subsection
(a) for a circuit with a population of more | 24 | | than 3,000,000 shall
be reduced
as provided in this subsection | 25 | | (b). For each vacancy that exists on or
occurs on or after | 26 | | February 15, 1991 the effective date of this amendatory Act of |
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| 1 | | 1990 , that
maximum number shall be reduced by one until the | 2 | | total number of
associate
judges authorized under subsection | 3 | | (a) is reduced by 60. Additionally, for each vacancy that | 4 | | exists on or occurs on or after the
effective date of this | 5 | | amendatory Act of
the 102nd General Assembly, that maximum | 6 | | number shall be
reduced by one until the total number of | 7 | | associate judges authorized under
subsection (a) is reduced by | 8 | | 11. A vacancy exists
or occurs when an associate judge dies, | 9 | | resigns, retires, is removed, or is
not reappointed upon | 10 | | expiration of his or her term; a vacancy does not
exist or | 11 | | occur at the expiration of a term if the associate judge is
| 12 | | reappointed. | 13 | | (c) The maximum number of associate judges authorized | 14 | | under subsection (a) for the 17th judicial circuit shall be | 15 | | reduced as provided in this subsection (c). Due to the vacancy | 16 | | that exists on or after the effective date of this amendatory | 17 | | Act of the 93rd General Assembly in the associate judgeship | 18 | | that is converted into a resident judgeship under subsection | 19 | | (a-10) of Section 2f-6 of the Circuit Courts Act, the maximum | 20 | | number of judges authorized under subsection (a) of this | 21 | | Section shall be reduced by one. A vacancy exists
or occurs | 22 | | when an associate judge dies, resigns, retires, is removed, or | 23 | | is
not reappointed upon expiration of his or her term; a | 24 | | vacancy does not
exist or occur at the expiration of a term if | 25 | | the associate judge is
reappointed.
| 26 | | (d) The maximum number of associate judges authorized |
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| 1 | | under
subsection (a) for the 23rd judicial circuit shall be | 2 | | reduced
as provided in this subsection (d). Due to the vacancy | 3 | | that
exists on or after the effective date of this amendatory | 4 | | Act of
the 98th General Assembly in the associate judgeship | 5 | | that is
converted into a resident judgeship under subsection | 6 | | (k) of
Section 2f-10 of the Circuit Courts Act, the maximum | 7 | | number of
judges authorized under subsection (a) of this | 8 | | Section shall be
reduced by one. | 9 | | (Source: P.A. 98-744, eff. 7-16-14; 99-520, eff. 6-30-16.)
| 10 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 11 | | becoming law. |
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