Please refer to the following documents for rules and practices specific to Illinois:

• Digital Media Standards
• Record on Appeal Standards
• Individual Court User Manuals
• Trial Court Configuration Standards
• Appellate Courts Public Facing Codes Standards

Cook County Circuit Court

Effective July 1, 2018, eFiling into all divisions of Cook County must be initiated via a certified eFiling provider such as File & Serve Illinois.

Asbestos Cases: The Case Management Order for Cook County asbestos cases does not change and users will continue to electronically serve in these cases via File & ServeXpress.

Case Types:

• Chancery, Child Support, Civil, Criminal, Domestic Relations, Domestic Violence, Elder Law and Miscellaneous Remedies, Probate County Division
  • adoption
  • marriage of minors
  • annexation and deannexation of land to a tax body
  • elections
  • inheritance taxes
  • mental health proceedings
  • real estate taxes
  • municipal organizations
  • orders of protection (filed in conjunction with a mental health proceeding)

Cook County Functionality:

• Request Hearing Date: After submitting a transaction, filers may request a hearing date directly from the envelope confirmation pop-up screen. Alternatively, filers may navigate to Completed Filings, open the Transaction Summary and select the “Request Hearing Date” button to schedule a hearing date with the court. Hearing Dates can only be requested while the filing is pending clerk review. Once a filing is accepted, the filer can no longer request a hearing date for the document(s) filed.
• Notification of Hearing Date Assignment: After clerk review of the filing, the Hearing Date field located in the Transaction Summary will show the status of the hearing request and, once accepted, will display the date and time of the hearing. The hearing date and time will also be stamped on the document returned from the court, and will appear in the “accepted” email from the court.
• Case Cross-Reference Number: Filers may utilize the Case Cross-Reference Number field to provide the court with additional data, as required for certain case types such as expungements and tax. Filers will also use the field for entering a Cook County Attorney Code, which is required for all Cook County filings except those in the County Division. In addition, filers will select “Motion” in the Case Cross-Reference field to facilitate scheduling hearings for specific calendars in the Law, Domestic Relations, Probate and Chancery divisions. When applicable, Motion dates cannot be scheduled during the Request Hearing Date process unless this step is taken.
• Schedule Return Dates: When the case requires a Return Date, such as when a summons is being issued, filers must click the MM/DD/YYYY field, choose a return date from the pop-up calendar and then click “Verify Return Date.” If a filer is not sure if a return date is required, click “Verify Return Date.” If a return date is required, the system will provide the first available return date. The filer can proceed with the first available date, or select a later date. If a return date is not required, the system will place a check in the “Not applicable for this filing” box. Note: If filing more than one document in an envelope, the Return Date applies to the first lead document only.
• Note: Filers can search for existing Cook County cases by case number, but Cook County has not yet implemented the ability to search for existing cases by party name.