May 20, 2025
Local News

Lee County in transition between court filing systems

Info through Sept. 13 still on old site; new system to go live in ‘a few weeks’

By KATHLEEN A

The Lee County Circuit Court stopped using Judici to file records on Sept. 14, and will replace it with the Full Court Enterprises system. Staffmembers are putting the new system through a test run right now, and it should be available to the public in a few weeks, via a link at leecountyil.com.

DIXON – The new Lee County Circuit Court filing system is up, and for the most part, running.

The public access component won’t be available for a few weeks because of firewall security issues, said Denise McCaffrey-Ehrmann, Lee County circuit clerk.

Staff stopped inputting new case information and updates into Judici, the filing system previously used, on Sept. 14. Once the new Full Court Enterprises system is live – all the records are there, the county is just finishing setup – there will be a link at leecountyil.com.

“With any conversion, it is never perfect and set-up is required,” McCaffrey-Ehrmann wrote in an email. “We ask that the public be patient with us as we complete this set-up.”

Whiteside, Carroll, Bureau, Ogle and 70 or so other counties will continue to use Judici, a public access subscription service that still has Lee County records that were input through Sept. 13.

For case information filed since then, McCaffrey-Ehrmann said people can stop by the circuit clerk’s office on the third floor of the Lee County Courts Building, 309 S. Galena Ave., from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. The phone number is 815-284-5324; the office is closed from noon to 1 p.m. for lunch.

Judici.com access to Lee County Court records will end once the county’s contract with Goodin Associates expires, essentially right up until the FCE system goes live.

“The Goodin program is available to my IT department until we are confident we have all data and we can shut down everything with them,” McCaffrey-Ehrmann wrote.

Winnebago and Boone counties also use Full Court Enterprises.

The new $500,000 FCE system, paid for primarily with court fees, will make filing documents more efficient, and improve communication between the circuit clerk, state’s attorney and probation departments, officials have said.

It also will help staff meet a state Supreme Court deadline requiring all courts to file all civil case records electronically by July 1, and all records by Jan. 1, 2018.

Users will be able to input more information about victims, witnesses and police officers, and no longer will have to hunt down physical files, which sometimes are in a judge’s chambers, when they need information that previously wasn’t available electronically.

OFFICE HOURS

The Lee County Courts Building, 309 S. Galena Ave., is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. The phone number is 815-284-5324; the office is closed from noon to 1 p.m. for lunch

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