Public Act 103-0597
HB4226 EnrolledLRB103 33243 LNS 63052 b HB4226 Enrolled LRB103 33243 LNS 63052 b
HB4226 Enrolled LRB103 33243 LNS 63052 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 as follows:
(705 ILCS 35/2f) (from Ch. 37, par. 72.2f)
Sec. 2f. Circuit of Cook County.
(a) Until December 2, 2024, the Circuit of Cook County
shall be divided into 15 units to be known as subcircuits. On
and after December 2, 2024, the Circuit of Cook County is
divided into 20 subcircuits as drawn by the General Assembly.
The subcircuits shall be compact, contiguous, and
substantially equal in population. Beginning in 2031, the
General Assembly shall, in the year following each federal
decennial census, redraw the boundaries of the subcircuits to
reflect the results of the most recent federal decennial
census.
In accordance with subsection (d), a resident judgeship
assigned to a subcircuit shall continue to be assigned to that
subcircuit. Any vacancy in a resident judgeship existing on or
occurring after the effective date of a law redrawing the
boundaries of the subcircuits shall be filled by a resident of
the redrawn subcircuit.
HB4226 Enrolled LRB103 33243 LNS 63052 b
(b) The 165 resident judges to be elected from the Circuit
of Cook County shall be determined under paragraph (4) of
subsection (a) of Section 2 of the Judicial Vacancies Act.
(c) For resident judgeships to be filled by election on or
before the 2022 general election, the Supreme Court shall
allot (i) the additional resident judgeships provided by
paragraph (4) of subsection (a) of Section 2 of the Judicial
Vacancies Act and (ii) all vacancies in resident judgeships
existing on or occurring on or after the effective date of this
amendatory Act of 1990, with respect to the other resident
judgeships of the Circuit of Cook County, for election from
the various subcircuits until there are 11 resident judges to
be elected from each of the 15 subcircuits (for a total of
165). A resident judgeship authorized before the effective
date of this amendatory Act of 1990 that became vacant and was
filled by appointment by the Supreme Court before that
effective date shall be filled by election at the general
election in November of 1992 from the unit of the Circuit of
Cook County within Chicago or the unit of that Circuit outside
Chicago, as the case may be, in which the vacancy occurred.
(d) As soon as practicable after the subcircuits are
created by law, the Supreme Court shall determine by lot a
numerical order for the 15 subcircuits. That numerical order
shall be the basis for the order in which resident judgeships
are assigned to the subcircuits. After the first round of
assignments, the second and all later rounds shall be based on
the same numerical order. Once a resident judgeship is
assigned to a subcircuit, it shall continue to be assigned to
that subcircuit for all purposes; provided that a resident
judge elected from a subcircuit seeking retention shall run
for retention at large in the circuit in accordance with
Article VI, Section 12(d) of the Illinois Constitution. No
elected judge of the Circuit of Cook County serving on January
7, 2022 shall be required to change his or her residency in
order to continue serving in office or to seek retention in
office as resident judgeships are allotted by the Supreme
Court in accordance with this Section.
(d-5) For resident judgeships to be filled by election on
or after the 2024 general election, a vacancy of a resident
judgeship to be elected from a subcircuit shall be allotted by
the Supreme Court to the subcircuit created under the Judicial
Circuits Districting Act of 2022 that numerically corresponds
to the subcircuit from which the resident judgeship was
previously allotted. For any resident judgeship to be elected
from a subcircuit that was not previously allotted to a
subcircuit, vacancies shall be allotted in numerical order to
subcircuits created under the Judicial Circuits Districting
Act of 2022 which numerically correspond to subcircuits that
had less than 11 resident judges on January 7, 2022 until there
are 11 resident judges to be elected from each of the
respective subcircuits. Vacancies in associate judgeships
authorized under Section 2(a) of the Associate Judges Act
occurring or after June 1, 2023 shall be converted to resident
circuit judgeships and shall be allotted in numerical order to
subcircuits Any vacancies in formerly associate judgeships
converted to resident circuit judgeships in the Circuit of
Cook County occurring on or after June 1, 2023 shall be
allotted in numerical order to Judicial Subcircuits 16, 17,
18, 19, and 20, until there are 11 resident judges to be
elected from each of those subcircuits (for a total of 55).
Beginning with the 2024 election cycle, the The maximum number
of formerly associate judgeship vacancies which shall be
judgeships converted to resident circuit judgeships to which
may be allotted to Judicial Subcircuits 16, 17, 18, 19, and 20
in an election cycle shall be 10 resident circuit 2
judgeships, with each subcircuit allotted no more than 2
resident circuit judgeships per election cycle. Any additional
associate judgeship vacancies in excess of the maximum number
per election cycle shall not be converted to resident circuit
judgeships and shall be filled according to Supreme Court Rule
39 until such time that a vacancy in the associate judgeship
occurs. A vacancy occurs when an associate judge dies,
resigns, retires, is removed, or is not reappointed upon the
expiration of his or her term; a vacancy does not occur at the
expiration of a term if the associate judge is reappointed. As
used in this subsection, "election cycle" means the period
that begins on the day following the last day to certify
judicial vacancies for election at the next general election
and ends on the last day to certify judicial vacancies for
election at the next general election, as provided in Section
25-3 of the Election Code subcircuit.
(e) A resident judge elected from a subcircuit shall
continue to reside in that subcircuit as long as he or she
holds that office. A resident judge elected from a subcircuit
after January 1, 2008, must retain residency as a registered
voter in the subcircuit to run for retention from the circuit
at large thereafter.
(Source: P.A. 101-477, eff. 6-1-20; 102-668, eff. 11-15-21;
102-693, eff. 1-7-22; 102-1126, eff. 2-10-23.)
Section 10. The Associate Judges Act is amended by
changing Section 2 as follows:
(705 ILCS 45/2) (from Ch. 37, par. 160.2)
Sec. 2. (a) The maximum number of associate judges
authorized for each circuit is the greater of the applicable
minimum number specified in this Section or one for each
35,000 or fraction thereof in population as determined by the
last preceding Federal census, except for circuits with a
population of more than 3,000,000 where the maximum number of
associate judges is one for each 29,000 or fraction thereof in
population as determined by the last preceding federal census,
reduced in circuits of less than 200,000 inhabitants by the
number of resident circuit judges elected in the circuit in
excess of one per county, except that the maximum number of
associate judges authorized for the 24th circuit shall be 3.
In addition, in circuits of 1,000,000 or more inhabitants,
there shall be one additional associate judge authorized for
each municipal district of the circuit court. The number of
associate judges to be appointed in each circuit, not to
exceed the maximum authorized, shall be determined from time
to time by the Circuit Court. The minimum number of associate
judges authorized for any circuit consisting of a single
county shall be 14, except that the minimum in the 22nd circuit
shall be 8, the minimum in the 19th circuit on and after
December 4, 2006 shall be 20, and the maximum number of
associate judges in the 20th circuit on and after December 5,
2022 shall be 12. The minimum number of associate judges
authorized for any circuit consisting of 2 counties with a
combined population of at least 275,000 but less than 300,000
shall be 10. The minimum number of associate judges authorized
for any circuit with a population of at least 303,000 but not
more than 309,000 shall be 10. The minimum number of associate
judges authorized for any circuit with a population of at
least 329,000, but not more than 349,999 shall be 11. The
minimum number of associate judges authorized for any circuit
with a population of at least 173,000 shall be 5. The number of
associate judges authorized for a circuit shall not be reduced
as a result of the 2020 federal decennial census. As used in
this Section, the term "resident circuit judge" has the
meaning given it in the Judicial Vacancies Act.
(b) The maximum number of associate judges authorized
under subsection (a) for a circuit with a population of more
than 3,000,000 shall be reduced as provided in this subsection
(b). For each vacancy that exists on or occurs on or after the
effective date of this amendatory Act of 1990, that maximum
number shall be reduced by one until the total number of
associate judges authorized under subsection (a) is reduced by
60. A vacancy exists or occurs when an associate judge dies,
resigns, retires, is removed, or is not reappointed upon
expiration of his or her term; a vacancy does not exist or
occur at the expiration of a term if the associate judge is
reappointed.
(b-5) The maximum number of associate judges authorized
under subsection (a) for a circuit with a population of more
than 3,000,000 shall be reduced as provided in this subsection
(b-5). Vacancies in associate judgeships authorized under
subsection (a) occurring on or after June 1, 2023 shall be
converted to resident circuit judgeships and shall be allotted
in numerical order to subcircuits 16, 17, 18, 19, and 20 Each
associate judgeship vacancy that occurs on or after June 1,
2023 shall be converted to a resident circuit judgeship and
allotted to a subcircuit pursuant to subsection (d-5) of
Section 2f of the Circuit Courts Act, with each subcircuit
allotted no more than a total of 11 resident circuit
judgeships. Each election cycle, beginning with the 2024
election cycle, a maximum of 10 associate judgeship vacancies
shall be converted to resident circuit judgeships pursuant to
subsection (d-5) of Section 2f of the Circuit Courts Act and
that maximum number shall be reduced by one until the total
number of associate judges authorized under subsection (a) is
reduced by 55. The maximum number of formerly associate
judgeships which may be converted to resident circuit
judgeships and which may be allotted to subcircuits 16, 17,
18, 19, and 20 in an election cycle shall be 10 2 judgeships
with each per subcircuit being allotted no more than 2
resident circuit judgeships per election cycle. Any additional
associate judgeship vacancies in excess of the maximum number
per election cycle shall not be converted to resident circuit
judgeships and shall be filled according to Supreme Court Rule
39 until such time that a vacancy in the associate judgeship
occurs. A vacancy occurs when an associate judge dies,
resigns, retires, is removed, or is not reappointed upon
expiration of his or her term; a vacancy does not occur at the
expiration of a term if the associate judge is reappointed. As
used in this subsection, "election cycle" means the period
that begins on the day following the last day to certify
judicial vacancies for election at the next general election
and ends on the last day to certify judicial vacancies for
election at the next general election, as provided in Section
25-3 of the Election Code.
(c) The maximum number of associate judges authorized
under subsection (a) for the 17th judicial circuit shall be
reduced as provided in this subsection (c). Due to the vacancy
that exists on or after the effective date of this amendatory
Act of the 93rd General Assembly in the associate judgeship
that is converted into a resident judgeship under subsection
(a-10) of Section 2f-6 of the Circuit Courts Act, the maximum
number of judges authorized under subsection (a) of this
Section shall be reduced by one. A vacancy exists or occurs
when an associate judge dies, resigns, retires, is removed, or
is not reappointed upon expiration of his or her term; a
vacancy does not exist or occur at the expiration of a term if
the associate judge is reappointed.
(d) The maximum number of associate judges authorized
under subsection (a) for the 23rd judicial circuit shall be
reduced as provided in this subsection (d). Due to the vacancy
that exists on or after the effective date of this amendatory
Act of the 98th General Assembly in the associate judgeship
that is converted into a resident judgeship under subsection
(k) of Section 2f-10 of the Circuit Courts Act, the maximum
number of judges authorized under subsection (a) of this
Section shall be reduced by one.
(Source: P.A. 102-693, eff. 1-7-22; 102-1126, eff. 2-10-23.)
Section 15. The Court Reporters Act is amended by changing
Section 7 as follows:
(705 ILCS 70/7) (from Ch. 37, par. 657)
Sec. 7. Proficiency tests. Each court reporter may be
required by the chief judge to shall take a test to verify his
or her proficiency within one year of employment. The test
shall be prepared and administered by the employer
representative in consultation with each of the other employer
representatives pursuant to standards set by rules. A
proficiency test passed prior to employment may be accepted by
the chief judge as proof of proficiency.
(Source: P.A. 101-581, eff. 1-1-20.)