By Marcia M. Meis, Director, Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts
The 1970 Illinois Constitution provides in Article VI, Section 17 that “The Supreme Court shall provide by rule for an annual judicial conference to consider the work of the courts and to suggest improvements in the administration of justice and shall report thereon annually in writing to the General Assembly not later than January 31.” While the Illinois Judicial Conference (IJC) has taken on various iterations since 1970, the current IJC – a smaller, strategic planning body – is resultant from the Supreme Court reconstituting the Judicial Conference in 2018.
Since that time, the IJC has helped Illinois courts navigate the increasingly complex and ever-changing legal, financial, political, social and technological environments in which they operate. This focus on strategic planning has enabled our courts to craft and implement short-and longer-term goals for the judicial branch that foster sustainability and relevance for our court system.
Since 2018, the IJC has tackled dozens of important issues impacting the Judicial Branch. This has led to technological upgrades for local courthouses, time standards for case closures, a jury orientation video, a new Illinois Courts website, and many, many other improvements that benefit court users and court personnel.
The IJC is kicking off its 2025 initiatives this month and here to tell us more about those is IJC Deputy Director of Strategic Planning, Marisa Wiesman. I am extremely proud of the work already accomplished, and I look forward to all the great things yet to come.
By Marisa Wiesman, Deputy Director for Strategic Planning
“If you don’t know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else.” It was with these words from Yogi Berra that the IJC began its strategic mission from the Illinois Supreme Court. The IJC is a diverse, multi-disciplinary body chaired by Chief Justice Mary Jane Theis. The IJC has 29 members: 15 judicial members and 14 non-judicial members. The non-judicial members include attorneys, trial court administrators, clerks of court, and members of the public.
The IJC developed the Judicial Branch 2022-2025 Strategic Agenda, which includes five high level goals for the Judicial Branch:
Strategic Goal 1: Accessible Justice and Equal Protection Under the Law
Strategic Goal 2: Fair, Timely, and Efficient Courts
Strategic Goal 3: Professionalism and Accountability Throughout the Judicial Branch
Strategic Goal 4: Understanding of, and Confidence in, the Judicial Branch
Strategic Goal 5: Funding and Use of Judicial Branch Resources
To achieve these goals, each year the IJC develops an annual operational plan which identifies specific initiatives. As we enter the final implementation year under the 2022-2025 Strategic Agenda, the IJC is pleased to announce its 2025 initiatives:
- Access to Legal Services in Legal Deserts
- Strengthening Juvenile Detention Practices
- Evaluation and Expansion of Court-Annexed Alternative Dispute Resolution
- Best Practices for Emerging Adults in the Justice System
- Judicial Branch Data Governance Policy
- Improve Policy/Practices Governing Judicial Branch Public Requests for Information
- Employee Orientation/Education Program
- Extended Media Coverage Policy
- DOC & DHS Collaboration to Improve Efficiency/Effectiveness of Remote Court Proceedings
- Supporting Effective Judicial Branch Engagement with the Other Branches of Government
Achieving these initiatives is truly a team effort. Each initiative has been assigned either to an existing Supreme Court committee or to an IJC task force created to work on the assigned initiative. All told, over 170 people are bringing their time, creativity, and expertise to these initiatives. Committees and task forces will present their final reports and recommendations to the IJC in October.
The full 2022-2025 Strategic Agenda and the At-A-Glance 2025 Operational Plan are available here.