L AW A N D J U D I C I A L S E R V I C E S U P D AT E
Lake County Board Approves Court Expansion Project
Administering the justice system is
one of the primary functions of
county government. This includes:
Sheriff
Coroner
Circuit Clerk
State’s Attorney
Justice System
The court expansion project includes:
• Criminal Courts Tower: A new 9-story, approximately
215,000 sq. ft. building with 17 new cou rtrooms and
space for three future courtrooms located on the
southwest corner of County and Washington streets.
• Washington Street Tunnel: Construct a tunnel
connecting the jail and court to provide secure and
efficient in-custody transfers from the jail to the court,
prevent detainees from using public spaces
• Remodeling of Babcox Court (current court complex)
and Jail Intake, Booking and Kitchen
The County planned and saved for the courts
expansion project and will pay for it with $34 million
cash, and borrow (bond) approximately $90 million,
keeping Lake County's overall debt extremely low.
Visit www.lakecountyil.gov/courtsexpansion
more information.
Public Defender
19th Judicial Court
Lake
County's
growing
population has placed a huge
demand on the court system,
resulting in a shortage of
courtrooms and other facility
constraints. After studying this
issue for several years, the County
Board approved an extensive
courts expansion project that will
meet the system's growing
demands and postpone the need
for additional jail beds through
the year 2030 and beyond, as well
as provide for more efficient
delivery of justice.
for
In 2011, Lake County
had 168,156 Criminal
Cases.
168,156
Criminal
Court
Cases
29%
County’s Budget
29% of the County’s
budget goes to fund
judicial services
In 2011, Lake County
had 29,445 Civil
Cases.
This includes: family
law (divorce and child
custody proceedings),
juvenile cases, and
other civil cases
involving things like
car accidents, medical
malpractice, defective
products, and
contract disputes.