Quinn Signs Bill to Help Fund New Courthouse

—By Shannon Antinori

A bill sponsored by State Sen. Pat McGuire (D-Joliet) and Rep. Larry Walsh Jr. (D-Joliet) to help fund a new Will County Courthouse is now a law.

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House Bill 5889, which was signed into law on Monday, allows the Will County Board to adopt a “judicial facilities fee” of up to $30 on civil and criminal cases that require a court appearance. The fees collected can be used only for the construction of a new courthouse and courtrooms.

A new courthouse will cost $140 million to $200 million, McGuire said in a press release. The new fee would raise an estimated $1.5 million to $2 million per year. County officials are discussing a mix of possible revenue sources to finance construction on a judicial complex.

The current courthouse in Will County is overcrowded and physically deteriorating, McGuire said in a release applauding Quinn for signing the bill, adding that the Twelfth Judicial Circuit is authorized to hire up to eight additional judges to handle case loads, but none have been hired because there are no available courtrooms.

“The people of Will County need and deserve a courthouse that is big enough, safe, and built to last,” McGuire said. “The General Assembly and Gov. Quinn have given the Will County Board a tool to help obtain that.”

The judicial facilities fee was the idea of Twelfth Judicial Circuit Chief Judge Richard Schoenstedt, who described it as “a classic user’s fee.”