 The Supreme Court has authorized Logan County to allow the
electronic transfer of the official court record of cases on appeal
filed after July 1, 2013. Logan joins Adams and Moultrie counties in
the 4th Judicial District and 14 other counties that participate in
the pilot project.Since he became chief justice in 2010, Kilbride
has pledged to make the Illinois courts more user-friendly by
implementing improvements in technology. Since then, the Supreme
Court has opened avenues for e-filing, creating a special E-Business
Committee in June 2011; announcing in October 2012 statewide
standards and new and amended Supreme Court rules that will allow
all courts in Illinois to begin electronic filing in civil cases;
and greatly expanding the pilot project that allows the e-filing of
the trial record in the appellate courts.
"Logan County becomes the 17th county in Illinois that will file
the trial record on appeal electronically," Kilbride said. "We've
come a ways since announcing the first two counties to participate
in the pilot project back in 2011. We give a big thank-you to all
who have helped us and the courts make progress."
Justice Rita B. Garman of the 4th Judicial District said the
program's progress is a result of its noted successes where it
already has been implemented.
"I'm pleased to see the pilot project move forward in the 4th
District," Garman said. "The e-filing program has been quite
successful in Adams and Moultrie counties and has been met with
positive feedback with those involved."
This program is a joint effort between the Appellate Court under
presiding Justice Robert J. Steigmann, Appellate Clerk Carla Bender
of the 4th Judicial District and Logan County Circuit Clerk Mary
Kelley. In announcing his e-business initiative, Kilbride emphasized
the importance of including the circuit clerks and all others who
work with and use the court systems.
Ms. Bender expressed that the electronic transmission process has
improved efficiency and reduced costs.
"The ongoing pilot project in Adams and Moultrie counties is
proceeding well," Bender said. "We initiated this pilot for the
purpose of development of a system of electronic transmission of the
record on appeal from the circuit court clerk to the Appellate
Court. In the past year and a half, the process has been developed,
tested and is continuing to expand. The electronic process provides
simultaneous access to the record on appeal to all parties and
eliminates the logistical obstacles that paper records present. It
is proving to be a very useful tool for the bench and the bar
alike."
Logan County Circuit Clerk Mary Kelley believes the benefits of
filing the record of appeal electronically will be reaped through
reducing the time it takes for the record to be prepared by the
circuit clerk, transported to and through the appeals process. All
parties involved with the appeal will receive the record
electronically, which will also be cost-efficient. E-filing the
appeal record will enhance the security and safekeeping of the
court's record by both the circuit and appellate court clerks.
"Observing the successes of the pilot project in Adams and
Moultrie counties shows that transferring the case file
electronically is a safe, secure and efficient method," Ms. Kelley
said. "I am excited that Logan County will be a part of this
project."
The pilot program allows attorneys, parties and appellate
justices to electronically view, access and work from the official
record of cases on appeal from Logan County. However, the paper
record will continue to be available to parties who would rather use
it.
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Throughout Illinois, 16 counties in four judicial districts have
already implemented the pilot project. They are Clinton County in
the 5th Judicial District; Adams and Moultrie counties in the 4th
Judicial District; Rock Island and Will counties in the 3rd Judicial
District; and Boone, Carroll, DeKalb, DuPage, Jo Daviess, Kendall,
Lee, McHenry, Ogle, Stephenson and Winnebago counties in the 2nd
Judicial District.
In addition, the Supreme Court announced in January 2012 a pilot
project for the electronic filing of motions, briefs and related
documents with the Illinois Supreme Court clerk's office. That
project involved the Illinois attorney general, the state appellate
defender's office and the office of the Illinois state's attorneys
appellate prosecutor.
The program was expanded by the court in January 2013 to include
the option for all documents in cases on the court's general docket
to be filed with the Supreme Court electronically, including
documents concerning attorney disciplinary matters before the court.
The expanded pilot project also gives the option for people
registered with the third-party vendor, including pro se litigants
and attorneys licensed in other jurisdictions appearing in a
specific case, to file documents electronically.
In October 2012, the Supreme Court announced new statewide
standards and new and amended Supreme Court rules that will allow
all courts in Illinois to begin electronic filing of court documents
in civil cases. Before, only five counties in Illinois had been
approved to operate e-filing systems as part of a pilot project on a
limited basis. The announcement ended the pilot stage of e-filing in
Illinois and allows all circuit court clerks to move to permanent
and ongoing procedures, if they so wish.
The accessible electronic record filed in the Appellate Court
will include transcripts of the trial and associated hearings,
motions, other pleadings and documents. It will exclude exhibits:
i.e., photos and physical evidence such as weapons, clothing and the
like.
Currently, after a notice of appeal is filed in the 4th District
Appellate Court, the official record on appeal is forwarded on paper
from the circuit court clerk to the appellate clerk. After it is
filed, it is physically transported to the attorney of record on one
side of the case. When that attorney files his or her brief with the
appellate court, the record is then transported to the attorney on
the other side of the case for use in preparation of the brief.
After briefing is completed, the record is returned to the court,
the case is assigned to an authoring appellate court justice, and
the record must be forwarded to the judge's office, where it resides
with the justice assigned to write the decision until the conclusion
of the case. It is then, finally, returned to the circuit court
clerk.
If, during the process of the court's consideration of the
appeal, the two other appellate justices assigned to the case wish
to review the record, it must be physically transported from the
justice in possession to the justice who requests possession.
The pilot project makes the physical transfer of the record
unnecessary and removes the cost of repeatedly transporting the
record back and forth from the appellate clerk's office. This
improvement in efficiency benefits not only the lawyers and the
court but the clients being served and taxpayers who fund the
courts.
[Text from file received from the
Illinois Supreme Court] |
