Federal budget cuts directed by President Donald Trump’s Department of Governmental Efficiency means that residents will soon lose the services of the Peoria County 10th Judicial Circuit Courthouse Law Library and Self-Help Center’s public assistant, who is provided free to taxpayers by AmeriCorps.

The U.S. Justice Department program started in 2001 to try to secure stiffer prison sentences for gun offenders. Up to now in Chicago, it was concentrated in high-crime areas on the West and South Sides.

Banking groups are applauding the news that Illinois’ controversial Interchange Fee Prohibition Act is being placed on the back burner for a year. The law would prohibit interchange fees from being charged on portions of credit and debit card transactions that include taxes and gratuities.

Gov. JB Pritzker will have hundreds of bills to review after lawmakers concluded their spring session, including measures protecting press freedoms and baby food, as well as creating a state public defender’s office.

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, alongside a coalition of 20 attorneys general, filed an amicus brief on Friday opposing the Trump administration's ban on transgender military service. This brief supports the lawsuit Shilling v. Trump, brought by current and aspiring transgender service members, including U.S. Navy Commander Emily Shilling.

More than 150 bills moved through the General Assembly in the final week of the legislative session and will make their way to the governor, including measures touching on drug approval, college admissions and foster placement.

State lawmakers passed more than 400 bills over the last five months, but the spring legislative session that concluded over the weekend will be remembered more for what legislators didn’t get done before the clock ran out.

Jamie Snow and Bart McNeil have asked the Illinois Supreme Court to hear appeals of their murder convictions following multiple failed appeals over the past years.

Bridget C. Duignan, currently a Circuit Judge in the 19th Subcircuit in Cook County, was installed as president of the Illinois State Bar Association yesterday at the Illinois Supreme Court building in Chicago. Duignan is the 149th president of the Association.