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92_HB4271
LRB9212598JMmb
1 AN ACT concerning subcircuit judgeships.
2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
4 Section 5. The Circuit Courts Act is amended by changing
5 Section 2f as follows:
6 (705 ILCS 35/2f) (from Ch. 37, par. 72.2f)
7 Sec. 2f. (a) The Circuit of Cook County shall be divided
8 into 15 units to be known as subcircuits. The subcircuits
9 shall be compact, contiguous, and substantially equal in
10 population. The General Assembly shall create the
11 subcircuits by law on or before July 1, 1991, using
12 population data as determined by the 1990 Federal census.
13 (b) The 165 resident judges to be elected from the
14 Circuit of Cook County shall be determined under paragraph
15 (4) of subsection (a) of Section 2 of the Judicial Vacancies
16 Act.
17 (c) The Supreme Court shall allot (i) the additional
18 resident judgeships provided by paragraph (4) of subsection
19 (a) of Section 2 of the Judicial Vacancies Act and (ii) all
20 vacancies in resident judgeships existing on or occurring on
21 or after the effective date of this amendatory Act of 1990,
22 with respect to the other resident judgeships of the Circuit
23 of Cook County, for election from the various subcircuits
24 until there are 11 resident judges to be elected from each of
25 the 15 subcircuits (for a total of 165). A resident
26 judgeship authorized before the effective date of this
27 amendatory Act of 1990 that became vacant and was filled by
28 appointment by the Supreme Court before that effective date
29 shall be filled by election at the general election in
30 November of 1992 from the unit of the Circuit of Cook County
31 within Chicago or the unit of that Circuit outside Chicago,
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1 as the case may be, in which the vacancy occurred.
2 (d) As soon as practicable after the subcircuits are
3 created by law, the Supreme Court shall determine by lot a
4 numerical order for the 15 subcircuits. That numerical order
5 shall be the basis for the order in which resident judgeships
6 are assigned to the subcircuits. After the first round of
7 assignments, the second and all later rounds shall be based
8 on the same numerical order. Once a resident judgeship is
9 assigned to a subcircuit, it shall continue to be assigned to
10 that subcircuit for all purposes.
11 (e) A resident judge elected from a subcircuit shall
12 continue to reside in that subcircuit as long as he or she
13 holds that office.
14 (f) It is the responsibility of the Administrative
15 Office of the Illinois Courts to publicize vacancies in
16 subcircuit judgeships in order to ensure a high caliber of
17 judicial candidates by increasing awareness of vacancies
18 among qualified individuals. The Administrative Office shall
19 give public notice of a subcircuit judgeship at least 60
20 days, but not more than 70 days, before the beginning of the
21 period in which a person seeking election to that judgeship
22 must file nominating petitions for the general primary
23 election.
24 Public notice under this subsection shall consist, at a
25 minimum, of notice (i) placed in newspapers in general
26 circulation in the area of the circuit, (ii) placed in
27 newspapers and periodicals of the legal profession in
28 circulation in the area of the circuit, (iii) given to bar
29 associations and other organizations of the legal profession
30 serving the area of the circuit, and (iv) given to members of
31 the General Assembly whose districts are contained wholly or
32 partially within the particular subcircuit. The notice shall,
33 at a minimum, give information concerning the subcircuit
34 judgeship that is available, any qualifications required by
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1 law for the office holder, the dates for filing nominating
2 petitions for the office, and the date of the general primary
3 election for which the petitions must be filed.
4 The Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts may use
5 additional measures to promote awareness of vacancies in
6 subcircuit judgeships.
7 (Source: P.A. 86-1478.)