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Court Records

Illinois Court Records

How Illinois's courts are organized, where their records are kept and how to search them.

Illinois has a unified trial court: the circuit court, which hears every kind of case, from traffic tickets to murder trials. Each of the 102 counties has an elected clerk of the circuit court who keeps the records, and the Circuit Court of Cook County is one of the largest unified court systems in the world.

There is no single free search that covers every Illinois trial court case. Most circuit clerks run their own online searches, and the state's re:SearchIL service offers access to e-filed documents from many counties.

How Illinois's courts are organized

Illinois has one of the simplest court structures in the country, with just three levels.

Illinois Supreme Court

Seven justices elected from judicial districts hear appeals in cases that strike down a statute, review Appellate Court decisions on petitions for leave to appeal, and oversee the legal profession.

Illinois Appellate Court

Hears appeals from the circuit courts in five appellate districts. The First District covers Cook County.

Circuit courts

The single trial court, organized into judicial circuits. Circuit judges and associate judges hear civil, criminal, family, probate, juvenile, traffic and small claims cases. The clerk of the circuit court in each county keeps the records.

Searching Illinois court records online

Search the circuit clerk's website for the county, and use re:SearchIL for documents in e-filed cases.

Getting records from the clerk's office

Each county's clerk of the circuit court keeps all trial court records for that county, including criminal, civil, family, probate and traffic files. Clerks provide copies and certified copies for fees set by state law and county ordinance. In Cook County, records are kept at the Daley Center and suburban courthouses, depending on the case type and district.

Wills filed after a death, estates and guardianships are also circuit court records in Illinois, so the circuit clerk is the place to ask. Deeds are kept by the county recorder or county clerk.

What is public, and what is not

Illinois court records are presumed open, and the Clerks of Courts Act and Supreme Court rules govern access. Juvenile, adoption, mental health and many other records are confidential. Supreme Court Rule 138 bars Social Security numbers and other personal identity information from public filings.

Illinois allows expungement of records that did not lead to conviction and sealing of many convictions, under the Criminal Identification Act. A sealed record is hidden from the public but available to law enforcement and some employers. Some cannabis-related records have been expunged automatically.

Older and archived records

Many older Illinois circuit court records have been transferred to the Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) system, a network of university-based depositories that hold local government records from each region of the state.

Criminal history and background records

A court file tells you what happened in one case in one court. A criminal history record (often called a rap sheet) pulls together arrests, charges and outcomes reported from across the state, so it is a different product kept by a different agency.

The Illinois State Police keeps the state's criminal history repository. Under the Uniform Conviction Information Act, the public can obtain conviction information on any person for a fee.

Federal court records in Illinois

Federal cases, including federal crimes, bankruptcies, and lawsuits over federal law or between citizens of different states, are not filed in Illinois's state courts. Illinois is divided into 3 federal judicial districts, and each has its own clerk's office:

Federal case files are searched through PACER, the federal judiciary's records system. PACER charges a small fee per page, but you pay nothing if your charges stay under the quarterly fee-waiver threshold, court opinions are free, and every federal courthouse has public terminals you can use at no cost. Many PACER documents have also been copied into the free RECAP Archive on CourtListener. Appeals from Illinois's federal courts go to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

Tips for a faster search

  • Illinois case numbers usually include the year, a case type code (such as CF for felony or L for law division civil) and a sequence number.
  • In Cook County, the case number shows the division and district where the case was heard.
  • If you need an older Cook County file, allow extra time: many are in off-site storage.
  • Have the full names of the parties, the county and a rough date range ready. A case number is the fastest way in if you have one.
  • Online indexes are not the official record. If a decision depends on it, get a copy (or a certified copy) from the clerk's office that holds the file.

Legal help and law libraries

Clerks and law librarians can explain how to find a record, but they cannot give legal advice. These organizations can point you in the right direction:

This guide is general information about public records, not legal advice. Court websites, fees and rules change, so confirm details with the court before you rely on them. Civics-Online.org is not affiliated with any court or government agency.