Below is a letter BGA Policy sent to the General Assembly of Illinois urging them to support court transparency:

In Illinois, the public has the right to documents and information from every branch of government, except one: the judicial branch of Illinois government. This makes Illinois an outlier among the 50 states, with most states giving access to the courts either through public access laws, a rule from the supreme court of that state, or some combination of both.

This lack of access goes through the entire judicial branch. It includes: all clerks of the court, the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts, all 24 circuit courts, all 5 appellate courts, and the Illinois Supreme Court. It even includes administrative programs that fall under the court’s jurisdiction, such as Illinois’ 16 juvenile detention centers.

Because of this lack of access, we are unable to get more information about:

• How courts spend public funds, including the Supreme Court’s $600 million budget
• How people who work for the courts are trained, and what policies they follow
• How many people violate their probation each year in each county
• How children detained at juvenile detention centers are disciplined–including how often room confinement is used

Each year, millions of cases go through the Illinois court system. It is the most directly impactful branch of government for many of the state’s residents. It is crucial that the people of Illinois, in turn, have access to the inner workings of the Illinois courts under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act, from which the judicial branch is currently exempt.

Illinois executive and legislative branches, and judicial branches throughout the country, are bound by public records laws to supply information to the public in order to keep government transparent, accountable, and equitable. The Illinois judicial branch can, and should, be held to the same standards as the two other branches of government in Illinois, and be included in Illinois’ Freedom of Information Act.

In order for the public to be able to engage with their government on the same footing as they deal with both other branches of government, we call upon the state legislature to expand the Illinois Freedom of Information Act to apply fully and equally to the judicial branch.

Sincerely,

The Court Transparency Coalition and supporting organizations: