The Illinois Supreme Court announced today two amendments to Order M.R. 30370 regarding remote proceedings in adult criminal cases. The Illinois Judicial Conference’s Court Operations During COVID-19 Task Force (Task Force) recommended these amendments to avoid any ambiguity and to simplify logistical issues regarding the waivers.

The orders are available on the court website.

The first amendment is to the Title and Preamble of the order to clarify that the order does not apply to juvenile cases.

The second amendment is to section II(C) and strikes Section II(E) to state that whether the waiver by a defendant to hold remote proceedings is made orally or in writing is within the discretion of the trial court, but the oral waiver must be stated on the record.

The Court and the Illinois Judicial Conference created the Task Force in June 2020 to serve as a rapid response unit to address ongoing challenges to court operations caused by the pandemic. The Chair of the Task Force is J. Timothy Eaton, Partner at Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP and the Vice Chair is Chief Judge Doherty of the 17th Circuit.