Illinois Circuit Courts Survey to Evaluate Access and Confidence in Court System

The Supreme Court of Illinois has authorized a statewide court user survey of the Illinois circuit courts. 

The Strategic Planning Committee of the Illinois Judicial Conference, in cooperation with the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts, has developed a survey that will ask court users to provide information about their personal experiences with local court systems. The term "court user" applies to all courthouse users including attorneys, litigants, witnesses, jurors, students, media, and members of the public who visit the courthouse for any reason.

The survey will enable each circuit court to assess the qualty of services provided by the court. Such matters may include users' views on how well they were treated, how easily they were able to obtain information, whether they felt they were heard in court, whether they perceived the end result as fair, and other subjects. The survey forms will be in English and, at the request of the circuit, will be made available in Spanish and Polish.

Chief Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court Rita Garman said, "Our goal is to measure court users' opinions and gain insight into how courts are perceived. It is the court's obligation to be accountable and to provide justice in a fair, equitable, and expeditious manner. We, threefore, look forward to the result of this survey. After the surveys are compiled and reviewed, we can then decide what action, if any, is necessary to improve and promote the public's trust and confidence in the court system."

Justice Carol Pope of the 4th District Appellate Court, who chairs the Strategic Planning Committee, has advised that survey forms will be distributed to all chief judges across the state. The surveys will be collected between April 13 and May 1, and each chief judge will decide on which days surveys will be conducted in their respective circuits and courthouses during that timeframe.

Designated staff and volunteers will be available in each courthouse to hand out and collect the surveys from the court users before they leave the courthouse. The survey form does not ask for the identity of the person completing it, and all responses will be kept confidential.

For more information regarding the survey, please contact Effingham County Circuit Clerk John Niemerg at 217-342-4065.