Years of Advocacy Lead to New Judicial Transparency Policy

For nearly five years, the Better Government Association, through its leadership of the Court Transparency Coalition, has worked alongside lawmakers, civic organizations, and advocates to push for greater transparency and public accountability within Illinois' judicial branch.

That sustained effort has now resulted in a significant step forward.

The Illinois Supreme Court has approved a new judicial transparency policy following years of public pressure and legislative advocacy surrounding Judicial FOIA proposals. While the final policy has not yet been publicly released and no implementation timeline has been announced, testimony provided during a recent subject matter hearing in the Illinois House's Executive Committee offered important insight into what the court approved.

Although there is still substantial work ahead, this marks an important acknowledgment that the public deserves greater access to information about how the judicial branch operates. The judicial branch oversees significant administrative, operational, financial and supervisory functions that impact communities across Illinois, and transparency in those areas is essential to public trust.

According to testimony presented at the hearing, the policy will include:

• Designation of a public information officer within each office to receive and respond to public information requests
• Publication on the Illinois Courts website of:
  • Judicial branch budgets
  • Number of full-time employees
  • Organizational charts
  • Contact information for the court system
• Annual publication of data relating to various offices within the judicial branch, including:
  • Circuit clerk data
  • Court services and probation data
  • Juvenile detention center data
  • Supreme Court and Appellate Court dockets
• Publication of data related to the Office of Statewide Pretrial Services (OSPS), including:
  • Annual budget
  • Number of employees
  • Number of pretrial investigations conducted
  • Number of defendants under OSPS supervision
  • Number of defendants ordered to OSPS GPS monitoring
  • Number of drug tests completed
  • Detention metrics
  • Number of court dates completed without a failure-to-appear warrant being issued

While this policy does not yet fully achieve the level of transparency advocates have sought through our judicial FOIA legislation, it is a meaningful step in the right direction and demonstrates that continued advocacy can produce results.

We especially want to thank Leader Tarver for helping elevate this issue within the legislature and for recognizing the importance of judicial transparency and accountability.

As we await publication of the final policy and further details regarding implementation, the Better Government Association and the Court Transparency Coalition will continue advocating for stronger transparency measures and greater public access to information throughout the judicial branch.

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