A press conference will be held April 3 in the Madison County Criminal Justice Center to explain the court's procedure for media in the Criminal Justice Center.
Supreme Court Press Secretary Joseph Tybor, Circuit Judge Charles Romani, Presiding Criminal Judge and Chief Judge Ann Callis will be at the meeting.
News cameras will be allowed in Madison County criminal courts for the first time under a pilot program approved unanimously by Illinois Supreme Court Justices.
Madison and Bond counties make up the Third Circuit, but extended media coverage will be allowed under the pilot project for the Madison County Criminal Justice Center in Edwardsville.
Callis said the center has sufficient security safeguards to ensure that the project can be managed efficiently.
As the pilot program unfolds in criminal courts in Madison County, Callis said she would explore the feasibility of requesting permission to expand the program to other courthouses in the circuit.
The order approving Madison County criminal courts for the pilot project requires that a judge presiding over a proceeding in which cameras were allowed file a report with Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas Kilbride and Illinois Supreme Court Justice Lloyd Karmeier.
The pilot program is already going on in the 14th Judicial Circuit in the Quad Cities area and in the 21st Judicial Circuit, including Kankakee County.
Callis schedules press conference to explain procedures for cameras in courtroom
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