IV. ANALYSIS OF WORKING OF JUDICIAL ORGANIZATION IN ILLINOIS.

In analyzing the operation of the judicial systera in Illinois an attempt will be made, first of all, to present a picture of the court geography of the state. Beginning with the county as the judicial unit, the organization of the circuits, appellate court districts and supreme court districts will be set forth, and the location of the probate and city courts pointed out. The jurisdictional relationships of the constituent parts of the judicial organization will then be briefly discussed. This will be followed by a somewhat detailed discussion of the practical working of each part of the system, commencing with the justice of the peace courts. The working of the system as a whole will be shown in the different types of counties. The counties other than Cook are referred to, for the sake of brevity, as "down-state counties." The Chicago and Cook County situation will receive sep

arate treatment.

Court geography of Illinois. In studying the court geography of Illinois reference should be made to the two maps inserted at pages 755 and 821 of this bulletin. The first map shows the counties, the circuits, and the appellate court districts. It also shows the city courts and the counties having probate courts. The second map shows the supreme court districts.

The unit of judicial organization in Illinois is the county. The jurisdiction of justices of the peace and police magistrates is limited by the county line. The county court and the probate court are county organizations. The circuit court in the down-state circuits is not a single court for the entire circuit. On the contrary the judges preside over a series of courts, one for each county, each court being administered as a distinct county organization. The jurisdiction of the state's attorney is confined to the county. The jury and the grand jury are county institutions. The supreme court of Illinois has held in People v. Rodenberg, 254 Ill. 386 (1912) that a trial court with. jurisdiction in two counties or drawing jurors from two counties cannot be created. Both the civil and criminal law are administered through organizations built upon the county as the basic unit.

There are 102 counties in the state. Exclusive of Cook County, the various counties range in population from 7015 (Hardin county) to 119,870 (St. Clair county). Four counties, Hardin, Calhoun, Henderson and Putnam have a population of less than 10,000. In area there is a variation from 173 square miles (Putnam county) to 1,191 square miles (McLean county).2

1 Population figures are of 1910 census.

For table showing the area and population of each county in the state, see appendix, page 892.

Each county has a county court. In Cook County and in the following nine down-state counties which have a population in excess of 70,000, there are also probate courts: Kane, La Salle, Madison, Peoria, Rock Island, Sangamon, St. Clair, Vermilion and Will. Counties having probate courts in addition to county courts are indicated on the map by a black square around the county seat.

3

There are 27 city courts in the state. The city courts are indicated on the map by stars. Four of the cities having city courts, Aurora, East St. Louis, Elgin and Moline, have a population of more than 25,000. One, Zion City, has less than 5,000 inhabitants. The remaining 22 city courts are located in cities now having populations ranging from 5,000 to 20,000. In five cities, Benton, Charleston, Harrisburg, Macomb and Marion, city courts are located at county seats. Eight of the 27 city courts are to be found in the mining area composed of Franklin, Jackson, Perry, Saline and Williamson counties. Three of these eight courts, those at Benton, Harrisburg and Marion are at county seats. Coles, Franklin, Kane, and Madison counties each has two city courts. In Coles and Franklin counties one of the two courts is at the county seat. Williamson county has three city courts, one at Marion, the county seat, and the other two at Herrin and Johnston City.

Exclusive of Cook County which, under the constitution of 1870, forms one judicial circuit, the state of Illinois is divided into seventeen circuits, each circuit being composed of contiguous counties. The various circuits are indicated on the map at page 755 by a distinctive shading scheme. The number of counties in the various circuits varies as does the population of the circuits. The second circuit contains twelve counties; the first and fourth, nine each; the eighth, eight; the third, seven; the sixth, seventh and ninth circuits, six each; the fifth, tenth, eleventh and fifteenth, five each; the fourteenth, sixteenth and seventeenth, four each; the twelfth and thirteenth, three each. In 1910 their population ranged from 133,127 in the fifteenth circuit to 310,267 in the third circuit. A table giving comparative statements of the populations of the various circuits by counties in 1890 (the census in effect at the time the present circuits were created), and 1910 is printed in the appendix on page 888.

The state is divided into four appellate court districts. The boundaries of the various districts are indicated on the map at page 755 by heavy black lines. Aside from Cook County, which comprises the first appellate district, the appellate districts, though composed of contiguous counties, in several instances include frational parts of a circuit. The ninth, tenth and eleventh circuits are split, part of the counties of each being in the second appellate district and part in the third. Similarly the fourth circuit is split between the third and fourth appellate

City courts are located at Alton, Aurora, Beardstown, Benton, Canton, Carbondale, Charleston, Chicago Heights, Dekalb, Duquoin, East St. Louis, Elgin, Granite City, Harrisburg. Herrin, Johnston City, Kewanee, Litchfield, Macomb, Marion, Mattoon, Moline, Pana, Spring Valley, Sterling. West Frankfort, and Zion City.

See act of April 23, 1897, Hurd's Revised Statutes, Chap. 37, Sec. 73.

districts. A table giving the population of the various appellate districts by counties is printed in the appendix on page 886.

For the purpose of electing supreme court judges the state is divided into seven supreme court districts. These districts are shown on the map at page 821. The boundary lines of the supreme court districts intersect both circuit and appellate court districts. This would, however, seem to be immaterial when it is considered that the sole purpose of the supreme court district is to provide areas from which to elect the seven judges of the supreme court. The following table shows a considerable variation in the population of these districts:"

Jurisdictional relationships. Before proceeding to a detailed analysis of the working of the judicial system, it seems desirable to make a brief statement of the jurisdictional relationships of the various trial courts open to litigants in the different types of down-state counties, discussing in a general way possible choices of courts resulting from overlappings of jurisdiction. The appellate system will also be briefly outlined.

Types of down-state counties. The down-state counties fall into one of four types:

(1) Counties containing, in addition to the justice of the peace courts, a county court and a circuit court. This is the simplest type of judicial organization in the State. Seventy-six counties fall into this

class.'

In the ninth circuit Henderson, Knox and Warren counties are in the second appellate district; Hancock, McDonough and Fulton are in the third. All of the counties of the tenth circuit are in the second appellate district except Tazewell, which is in the third. In the eleventh circuit Livingston and Woodford are in the second appellate district; Logan, McLean and Ford are in the third. In the fourth circuit Christian, Montgomery and Shelby counties are in the third appellate district; Clay, Effingham, Fayette, Jasper and Marion are in the fourth appellate district.

For more detailed statement of population of the supreme court districts by counties see appendix, page 885.

These counties are: Adams, Alexander, Bond, Boone, Brown. Calhoun, Carroll, Champaign, Clark, Clay, Clinton, Crawford, Cumberland, Dewitt. Douglas, Dupage, Edgar, Edwards, Effingham, Fayette, Ford, Gallatin, Greene, Grundy, Hamilton, Hancock, Hardin, Henderson, Iroquois, Jasper, Jefferson, Jersey, Jo Daviess, Johnson, Kankakee, Kendall, Knox, Lawrence, Lee, Livingston, Logan, McHenry, McLean, Macon, Macoupin, Marion, Marshall, Mason. Massac, Menard, Mercer, Monroe, Morgan, Moultrie. Ogle. Piatt, Pike. Pope, Pulaski, Putnam, Randolph, Richland, Schuyler, Scott. Shelby, Stark, Stephenson, Tazewell, Union, Wabash, Warren, Washington, Wayne, White, Winnebago, and Woodford.

(2) Counties which contain one or more city courts in addition to the justice of the peace courts, a county court and a circuit court. Type 2 comprises the following counties: Bureau, Cass, Christian, Coles, DeKalb, Franklin, Fulton, Henry, Jackson, Lake, McDonough, Montgomery, Perry, Saline, Whiteside, and Williamson.

(3) Counties which contain a probate court, one or more city courts, a county court, a circuit court, and the justice of the peace courts. This type adds a probate court to type 2 and a probate court and one or more city courts to type 1. This type includes Kane, Madison, Rock Island, and St. Clair counties.

(4) Counties containing justices of the peace courts, a county court, a probate court and a circuit court, but no city courts. This type adds a probate court to type 1, and omits the city court from types 2 and 3. Type 4 includes LaSalle, Peoria, Sangamon, Vermilion, and Will counties.

Type 1. The simplest type of judicial organization, which is represented by the first group of counties, contains, in addition to the justice of the peace courts, a circuit court and a county court. Justices of the peace and police magistrates have jurisdiction in criminal matters which are punishable only by a fine not exceeding $300, and in a large variety of civil cases where the amount involved does not exceed $300. The circuit court has original jurisdiction in all cases at law and in equity and in all criminal cases.10 The county court is, by the constitution, given jurisdiction in proceedings for the collection of taxes and assessments, and, in counties where there are no probate courts, jurisdiction in all probate matters." This court has concurrent criminal jurisdiction with the circuit court is non-indictable offenses where the punishment is not imprisonment in the penitentiary or death.12 In law matters it has concurrent jurisdiction with the circuit court in that class of cases in which justices of the peace have jurisdiction where the amount claimed or the value of the property in controversy does not exceed $1,000.13 The circuit and county courts have concurrent original jurisdiction in various statutory proceedings and concurrent appellate jurisdiction in appeals from justices of the peace and police magistrates.1 Appeals from the probate court are in practically all cases taken to the circuit court, where a trial de novo is had.15

Let us now see what choices of courts are available to a litigant in counties of type 1 as a result of the overlappings of jurisdiction just pointed out. If his claim is a contract claim involving $300 or less, or any other kind of claim for a similar amount justiciable in a court of a justice of the peace he may sue the defendant before any justice of the peace or police magistrate in the county or bring an action either in the circuit or county court. In other words, he may select a justice's court or either one of two courts of record. If the amount of the

Hurd's Revised Statutes, Chap. 79, Sec. 16.
Constitution, Art. VI, Sec. 12.

10 Hurd's Revised Statutes, Chap. 38, Sec. 392.

"Constitution, Art. VI, Secs. 18, 20.

12 Hurd's Revised Statutes, Chap. 37, Sec. 95 and Chap. 38, Sec. 392.

13 Hurd's Revised Statutes, Chap. 37, Sec. 95.

Hurd's Revised Statutes, Chap. 37, Sec. 95.

15 Hurd's Revised Statutes, Chap. 37, Sec. 212.