Chief Justice Rita B. Garman, the Illinois Supreme Court and the chief judges of the 24 Circuits in Illinois have announced the distribution of a detailed court user survey designed to measure public perceptions and experiences with the Illinois courts.

The Strategic Planning Committee of the Illinois Judicial Conference, in coordination with the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts, developed the survey that will ask court users to give input on their personal experiences with their local court system in all 24 Circuits across the 102 counties in Illinois. It will seek input from all courthouse users including attorneys, visitors, litigants, students, media, and the general public.

The purpose of the survey is to enable courts to measure and determine the quality of services provided by the court, and improve them where necessary. Such matters may include users’ views on how well they were treated; how easily they were able to obtain information; whether they felt their side was heard in court; and whether the end result was fair.

The surveys will be in English and, at the request of the circuit, will be made available in Spanish and Polish.

“Our goal is to measure court users' opinions and gain insight into how courts are perceived," said Chief Justice Garman. "It is the court’s obligation to be accountable and provide justice in a fair, equitable and expeditious manner, and, therefore, we look forward to the end results of this survey. After the surveys are compiled and reviewed, we can then decide what action, if any, is necessary to improve and promote the public’s trust and confidence in the court system.”

Justice Carol Pope of the Fourth District Appellate Court, who chairs the Strategic Planning Committee, indicated the surveys will be distributed to all chief judges across the state. The surveys will be collected between April 13th and May 1st.

Designated staff and volunteers will be available in each courthouse to hand out and collect the surveys from the court users before they leave. The survey is confidential and does not require the identity of the person completing it.