Ill. Supreme Court hopes to modernize procedures

SPRINGFIELD — The Illinois Supreme Court is already on Twitter. Now it wants to use digital tools to make bigger changes to court procedures.

Chief Justice Thomas Kilbride is forming a "Special E-Business Committee" to propose ways of modernizing, including electronic filing of cases.

He says digital technology can make the courts more efficient and cost-effective.

But it won't be simple. Illinois courts are funded by the state and by 102 counties. They include 23 different circuits and five appellate districts. Circuit courts use 12 different software systems.

The new committee is supposed to get input from Illinois lawyers and judges and look at the results of pilot projects. Then it will recommend guidelines for e-business in the courts and come up with an implementation plan.