Cook County To Join Cameras-In-Court Program
The Illinois Supreme Court has allowed the use of cameras and audio recording devices in Cook County courts on an experimental basis starting next month.
Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Rita Garman and Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans made the announcement Tuesday morning. Cook County is the largest and latest of dozens of counties in Illinois that have joined a state high court camera pilot program that launched in 2012.
Court officials say the program will begin Jan. 5 in the felony courtrooms at the Leighton Criminal Court Building in Chicago. It's been the site of many high-profile trials.
Bond hearings are excluded from the pilot project.
The 6th Judicial Circuit, which includes Champaign, DeWitt, Macon, Douglas, Moultrie and Piatt Counties, was allowed to be part of the pilot program in September 2013.
Ilinois has allowed cameras to be present during Supreme Court and Appellate Court hearings since 1983.
Links
- Illinois Supreme Court Fast-Tracks Pension Dispute
- State Employees Score Double Victory In Court
- Illinois Pension Case Might Head To Supreme Court
- State Supreme Court Grants Cameras For 6th Circuit
- Judges Approve Cameras for Courts In Sixth Judicial Circuit
- Illinois Supreme Court to Expand Cameras in Courtrooms
- Court Defers Cook County’s Request for Courtroom Cameras