Friday, August 25, 2017

Complaining About Judges

Effective January 1, 2018, House Bill 3054 becomes law. As enacted, the law requires the clerk of every county to post in common areas of the courthouse, a notice “that a person may file a complaint against the judge that includes contact information for the Judicial Inquiry Board.” To my knowledge, Illinois is the only state with such a requirement. The Tennessee legislature rejected a similar proposal.

It seems that a natural corollary to HB 3054 would be legislation requiring legislators to post notices in common areas of the State Capital Building and in their offices advising constituents how to file a complaint against them. Down the road, lawyers might be appropriate subjects of parallel legislation.