Cook County Board Hearing on Mediations for Domestic Relations and Child Representation

Cook County Board - Criminal Justice Committee 
June 10, 2026

The Committee heard from public speakers and criminal justice stakeholders pursuant to a request for hearing to consider measures to be implemented to ensure fair and equitable processing of mediations for domestic relations and child representation.  (Item 25-3661, sponsored by Commissioner Donna Miller) Problems concerning these had been identified in prior meetings. 

• Public speakers spoke about the lack of follow up, confusion, and continued movement of personnel within the courts, whether participants are involved with the domestic relations and/or domestic violence court.  Several speakers thanked Commissioner Miller for taking the lead and listening to the experiences of people who are involved in the domestic criminal justice system (which is a separate issue).  A few speakers spoke about the length of time their cases have been in the courts, such as 7, 8 or 9 years, and the impact this has on their lives, families and children.  
• Diane Brown spoke about her daughter Jennifer and her experience in the court which started in 2017. The case is still open after 9 years and 8 judges.
• Another speaker shared that when her daughter was 11 or 12 she asked for equal parental time with her mother. During an 8-year period, numerous personnel changes occurred in the case, including 3 different judges. This resulted in no contact between mother and daughter for 7 ½ years.   She stated that courts should not have so much power over families. 
• Several people mentioned the role of GALs (Guardian ad Litem) in their cases and the fees involved.  GALs are independent licensed attorneys appointed by judges, credentialed in Illinois, who go through extra training to represent the best interest of children in domestic relations cases. They are not employees of the court. 

Representatives from the Chief Judge, Sheriff, State Attorney’s, Clerk of the Court, and Public Guardian; shared updates and answered questions from the Commissioners.  These questions, particularly Commissioner Stamps', centered around appointed GALs and fees involved, accreditation, court reporters, orders of protection (POs), length of time to serve, what information is available to the judges and where they receive it from, and what drives process and practices. 

Questions and answers concerning GALs included:  

• How are they assigned – by judges from an approved list
• How do attorneys become a GAL- independent licensed lawyers go through two 8-hour training days to learn court procedures and the role GALs play
• What are they paid -  $110/hour (for last 20 years)  or if judge decides the family can afford to pay a higher rate, could be as much as  $300 or $400/hour 
• If a family cannot pay, the court can appoint a public guardian who has a sliding scale or may be pro bono
• Is there a sliding scale available for GAL - no, fee is statutorily set
• Due to what may be an arbitrary decision on what kind of representation a family may receive, some people owe thousands of dollars in fees

The Resolution states that GALs are interviewed and screened by current GALs and that the Office of Public Guardian accepts appointments as the child representative in the majority of cases (as opposed to the GAL). 

Additional questions and responses included:
Who handles issues regarding ethics or problems with representation from lawyers?

• All concerns are directed to the ARDC ( Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission).  
• ARDC investigates misconduct complaints. By design, the process is confidential. 

Why are there no court reporters in these courts?

• There is a statewide lack of court reporters which leads to lack of accountability.
• Lack of court reporters is an impediment to seek review or appeal.
• Court reporters are not required in all cases. Are required if only one side is appearing in court or there is an interview of a child in the judge’s chambers.
• When asked about use of zoom, the answer is the technology is not there yet for accuracy.  A recording is not a substitute for a transcript. 
• When asked about increasing the number of court reporters, Commissioner McCaskill shared that South Suburban College has a court reporter training program.

On a separate issue, Orders of Protection (OPs) not being served cause litigants to feel unsafe for themselves and their children, A recent analysis determined that 75% of civil OPs remain unserved in Cook County.  Data from Sheriff’s office:

• Orders are processed by Clerk of the Court’s office and sent to Sheriff 
• About 72% of OPs are served on the same day as issued.  A second attempt is made within 24 hours, and 3rd attempt in 72 hours. 
• From Nov 1, 2025 to Feb 28, 2026, data showed there were 6,212 orders with 56.7% served. 
• Main barriers to serving are cannot be located, wrong address, respondent relocated. 
• There were some questions regarding how orders are issued - paper or electronically. Answer paper with some follow-up electronically. 

Information available to the judges?

• Information generally comes from the Clerk of the Court’s office 
• Judges have access to domestic violence court records

Other points from Commissioners:

• Need for raining for judges and others and the need to be mandatory
• There is a need to monitor technology in order to support the system better
• Questions on judges and turnover on cases
• Commissioner Stamps wants racial and gender data tracked. (The Commissioner said that 70% of victims are black women.) Some of this will require IL statute change. 
• Lobbying will be needed to update fee statutes and where court reporters are required. 

​Observer:  Laura Davis