1.00.00  General Filing Information:  Click a topic below for more information.

1.01.00 Judicial Officers   1.02.00 General Information (Clerk's Office)
1.03.00 Location of Files and Dockets
1.05.00 Searching for Cases When Case Number is Unknown
1.06.00 General Filing Requirements for All Cases

1.01.00 Judicial Officers 
  

Honorable David R. Herndon	Chief District Judge	East St. Louis, IL
Honorable J. Phil Gilbert	District Judge	Benton, IL
Honorable G. Patrick Murphy	District Judge	East St. Louis, IL
Honorable Michael J. Reagan	District Judge	East St. Louis, IL
Honorable William D. Stiehl	Senior Dist Judge	East St. Louis, IL
Honorable Donald G. Wilkerson	Magistrate Judge	East St. Louis, IL
Honorable Philip M. Frazier	Magistrate Judge	Benton, IL
Honorable Clifford J. Proud	Magistrate Judge	East St. Louis, IL

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2.00.00 Filing Requirements in Civil Matters   3.00.00 Clerk of Court
  

1.02.00 General Information (Clerk's Court)

The Clerk of the Court maintains two staffed offices, open to the public from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Those offices are located at:
  

750 Missouri Avenue East St. Louis, IL  62201 Phone:  618-482-9371

301 West Main Street Benton, IL  62812 Phone:  618-439-7760

Documents for any Judge may be filed in either of the Clerk's offices. Such documents will be file-stamped when received and then sent to the appropriate office.

Case numbers are distinctive and composed of the following parts. The division code, year and case type fields are not required when searching the ICMS or PACER databases.

Division Code: 3 (East St. Louis), 4 (Benton), 5 (Alton)

Year (two digits): 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, ..............

Case Type: cv (Civil), cr (Criminal), m (Magistrate)

Case Number: 00001, 04001 (Civil, Magistrate), 30001, 40001 (Criminal)

Judge's Initials: DRH (Herndon), GPM (Murphy), JPG (Gilbert), MJR (Reagan),WDS (Stiehl), PMF (Frazier), CJP (Proud), DGW (Wilkerson)

Prior to January 1, 1991, case numbers began with the number which corresponded to the divisional office code. For example, the first civil case number issued in 1990 and before were consistent with the following format: 86-3001 (East St. Louis), 86-4001 (Benton), and 86-5001 (Alton).

After May 21, 1990, initials of the presiding Judge were appended to the end of the case number, i.e., 90-4001-JPG, 90-3001-GPM or 90-3002-WDS.

Beginning in 1991, case numbers assigned in East St. Louis no longer were created with the divisional office code as the first digit of the case number, i.e., 91cv00002-GPM, 91cv00003-WDS, etc.).

Benton case numbers stayed the same, beginning with the year, followed by the 5-digit case number and the judge's initials (e.g. 91-04001-JPG, 91-04002-JPG, 91-04003-JPG, etc.).

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2.00.00 Filing Requirements in Civil Matters   3.00.00 Clerk of Court

1.03.00 Locations of Files and Dockets

Files and dockets for the following document types are handled in the following manner:

Case Open or On Appeal: Maintained at the location where the Judge presides.

Case Closed/Appeal Complete: Returned to office of jurisdiction.

Three Years After Case Closed: File sent to the Federal Records Center.

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2.00.00 Filing Requirements in Civil Matters   3.00.00 Clerk of Court

1.05.00 Searching for Cases When Case Number is Unknown

All records in the Clerk's Office are filed and accessed by case number. If the case number is unknown, a party index is available to identify the case number for a particular plaintiff or defendant.

Each Clerk's Office makes the party index available to the public Monday through Friday during normal working hours (see 1.01.00) for researching case numbers. If the Clerk's Office is requested to perform such a search, a $15.00 fee, payable in advance, is required or each name searched.

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2.00.00 Filing Requirements in Civil Matters   3.00.00 Clerk of Court

1.06.00 General Filing Requirements for All Cases (Local Rule 4)

Paper Size: All documents must be filed on 8½" x 11" paper. No other paper sizes are acceptable.

Where: All documents, including required copies for the Judge, must be filed with the Clerk's Office (not filed within Chambers) to prevent confusion. Even in an emergency, or if the Judge is expecting the document, it should be filed with the Clerk of Court. In an emergency, a judicial staff member will be contacted and, if necessary, the document will be hand-carried to the Judge by a Clerk's Office employee.

Discovery: No discovery materials, except Requests for Admissions, will be accepted for filing with the Court unless the Judge has so ordered. (Local Rule 26.1(b)

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2.00.00 Filing Requirements in Civil Matters   3.00.00 Clerk of Court