Court-Annexed Mandatory Arbitration Annual Report Fiscal Year 2005 - Seventeenth Circuit | State of Illinois Office of the Illinois Courts
Seventeenth Judicial Circuit
(Boone and Winnebago Counties)
Arbitration Program Information
The Seventeenth Judicial Circuit consists of Winnebago and Boone Counties. The arbitration center is located near the courthouse in Rockford, Illinois. In the fall of 1987, court-annexed mandatory arbitration was instituted as a pilot program in Winnebago County, making it the oldest court-annexed arbitration system in the state. The Boone County program began hearing arbitration-eligible matters in February 1995. A supervising judge from each county is assigned to oversee the arbitration programs and is assisted by a trial court administrator and an assistant arbitration administrator.
DATA PROFILES
Boone County
Following are charts and diagrams which contain data from State Fiscal Year 2005.
State Fiscal Year 2005
Boone County
At a Glance Arbitration Caseload Information
State of Illinois
At A Glance Arbitration Caseload Information
Number of Cases Pending / Referred to Arbitration 201
Number of Cases Settled /Dismissed 146
Number of Cases Pending 55
Number of Arbitration Hearings 10
Number of Awards Accepted 2
Number of Awards Rejected 2
Number of Cases Filed in Arbitration which Proceeded to Trial 1
While cases referred to Boone County's arbitration program vary annually, an average of 107 cases per year were referred to arbitration over the past five state fiscal years.
The chart above presents information regarding the total number of cases litigated in arbitration which yielded either a disposition or, ultimately went to trial. Program data indicates that either a settlement or dismissal was reached in 73% (146 of 201 cases were disposed) of the cases filed in the Boone County arbitration program for State Fiscal Year 2005. This disposition rate tracks the five year average of 74% and is less than the statewide average of 84%.
A more significant performance indicator for arbitration, however, is measuring the number of cases which, having completed the arbitration process, proceed to trial. In Boone County, only one case filed in arbitration proceeded to trial.
Winnebago County
Following are charts and diagrams which contain data from State Fiscal Year 2005.
State Fiscal Year 2005
Winnebago County
At a Glance Arbitration Caseload Information
State of Illinois
At A Glance Arbitration Caseload Information
Number of Cases Pending / Referred to Arbitration 2,110
Number of Cases Settled /Dismissed 1,862
Number of Cases Pending 248
Number of Arbitration Hearings 114
Number of Awards Accepted 43
Number of Awards Rejected 48
Number of Cases Filed in Arbitration which Proceeded to Trial 9
Since State Fiscal Year 2001, cases referred to Winnebago County's arbitration program have increased annually. From 2001 through 2005, an annual average of 1,339 cases have been referred to arbitration.
The chart above presents information regarding the total number of cases litigated in arbitration which yielded either a disposition or, ultimately went to trial. Program data indicates that either a settlement or dismissal was reached in 88% (1,853 of 2,110 cases were disposed) of the cases filed in the Winnebago County arbitration program for State Fiscal Year 2005. This disposition rate tracks the five year average of 87% and is above the statewide average of 84%.
A more significant performance indicator for arbitration, however, is measuring the number of cases which, having completed the arbitration process, proceed to trial. In Winnebago County, less than 1% of cases (9 of the 2,110) filed in arbitration proceeded to trial.