SPRINGFIELD - A bill redrawing judicial circuits in the Metro-East and Chicago suburbs passed the Illinois Senate at 3 a.m. on June 1, without public hearing or input from stakeholders.
The key amendment to Senate Bill 2406 wasn't added until May 30, and the short notice caught a lot of people off guard, including its Senate sponsor.
Sen. Christopher Belt (D-East St. Louis) pushed for passage of the bill that makes St. Clair County, population 262,000, its own circuit (20th), while splitting off Monroe, Perry, Randolph and Washington counties into a newly created 24th Judicial Circuit serving a population of 101,000. It will be the state's smallest circuit.
Cook County, population 5 million, is the only other county in the state with its own circuit.
Belt said St. Clair County is 64 percent caucasian and 30 percent African American, and that there is currently only one African American serving as judge.
"This is an attempt to create a more diverse judicial bench," he said.
Belt, however, apparently was not aware that the amendment added to SB2406 by State Rep. Jay Hoffman (D-Belleville) also included a provision for dividing Lake County's 19th Judicial Circuit into at least 10 subcircuits.
Belt pushed back on questions from minority leader Sen. Dan McConchie (R-Lake Zurich), who is elected by voters in Lake County.
"This is the first I have seen of this, including changes in Lake County," McConchie said. "What is going on and why Lake County? What level of debate and scrutiny have we had over the changes being proposed here?"
Belt responded that SB2406 had "nothing relative" to Lake County.
"Leader, I don't know where you are getting Lake County from," Belt said. "I see Randolph, Monroe, Washington and Perry counties will become the new 24th Circuit. Nothing relative to Lake County."
Belt then appeared to recognize the error.
"Subcircuit, okay," he said.
Confusion persisted after Belt said a vote would be taken on House Floor Amendment 2, which he described only related to St. Clair County, when in fact the amendment applies to both the19th and 20th judicial circuits. The actual vote called for Amendments 1 (without substance giving the bill shell status) and 2. It passed 40-17, but Belt moved to reconsider after Republicans erupted when Senate President Don Harmon (D-Oak Park) said Belt corrected the record to state that Lake County's circuit was included.
"No he didn't," shouted one senator.
Sen. Jason Barickman (R-Bloomington) asked that issue be cleared up, by Belt reconsidering the vote.
Next time the vote was 37-18, with Barickman changing his vote to no.
During debate, Barickman said it was a "dangerous" thing to pass the bill without hearing from the public.
"To do something like this at nearly 3 a.m. is dangerous and certainly seems tremendously detrimental to the people of the area who rely on their court system to be free of politics," he said.
"Courts need to be fair and impartial."
Before the second vote, McConchie said he was at a loss for words that a provision in the bill, which he described as redistricting Lake County's judicial circuit, was going to pass with no public input.
"The politicization of the courts is the last thing we should be doing in the dark of night when not even the sponsor knows what is going on," he said.
A day earlier on the House floor, State Rep. Charlie Meier (R-Okawville) lashed out at Hoffman, saying that not even judges knew this bill was in the works.
"I've talked to a lot of different judges, including supreme court judges," Meier said. "None of them knew this bill was coming. Isn't the judiciary a separate branch of government? Shouldn't they be allowed to make decisions?
"It has nothing to do with making a better judicial system in the state of Illinois. This is to pack the court in St. Clair County."
Meier said real estate taxes will increase to pay for the added administrative costs of creating the new 24th judicial circuit.
Belt could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.