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ILLINOIS FOURTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER

Pursuant to the authority granted to the Chief Judge by Article VI, Section 7(c) of the Constitution of the State of Illinois, the Judicial assignments in the Fourth Judicial Circuit for the period from January 1, 2024, until further order of the Chief Judge, are as follows:

CHRISTIAN COUNTY

JUDGE BRADLEY PAISLEY
All criminal and traffic matters; and Problem Solving Court.

JUDGE CHRISTOPHER HANTLA
All civil and juvenile matters.

CLAY COUNTY

JUDGE JOEL POWLESS
All matters (Monday, Wednesday & Friday).

CLINTON COUNTY

JUDGE DOUGLAS GRUENKE
All matters (Monday, Wednesday & Friday).

JUDGE STANLEY BRANDMEYER
All matters (Tuesday); all matters not assigned to Judge Sanders (Thursday).

JUDGE ERICKA SANDERS
All juvenile matters; and Problem Solving Court (Thursday afternoon).

EFFINGHAM COUNTY

JUDGE J. MARC KELLY
All criminal, traffic and juvenile matters (Monday through Thursday).

JUDGE JEFFREY DELONG
All civil matters (Monday through Friday); and all bond and compliance hearings (Friday).

JUDGE ERICKA SANDERS
Problem Solving Court (Friday).

FAYETTE COUNTY

JUDGE ALLAN LOLIE
All criminal and traffic matters; and Problem Solving Court.

JUDGE JOSHUA MORRISON
All civil matters (Monday through Wednesday).

JUDGE MARTIN SIEMER
All civil and juvenile matters (Thursday).

JASPER COUNTY

JUDGE KEVIN PARKER
All matters (Tuesday & Thursday).

MARION COUNTY

JUDGE MARK STEDELIN
All criminal and traffic matters; and Problem Solving Court.

JUDGE DOUGLAS JARMAN
All civil matters.

JUDGE ERICKA SANDERS
All juvenile matters (Monday and Wednesday).

MONTGOMERY COUNTY

JUDGE CHRISTOPHER MATOUSH
All criminal and traffic matters; and Problem Solving Court.

JUDGE NATHAN FRISCH
All civil and juvenile matters.

SHELBY COUNTY

JUDGE BRYAN KIBLER
All matters (Monday through Thursday).

JUDGE CHAD MILLER
All matters; and Problem Solving Court (Friday).

ADDITIONAL ASSIGNMENTS

1)         Circuit Judge Amanda Ade-Harlow, Circuit Judge Stanley Brandmeyer (Monday, Wednesday, Friday), Circuit Judge Bryan Kibler (Friday), Circuit Judge Chad Miller (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday), Circuit Judge Joshua Morrison (Thursday, Friday), Circuit Judge Kevin Parker (Monday, Wednesday, Friday), Circuit Judge Joel Powless (Tuesday, Thursday), Circuit Judge Martin Siemer (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday), Associate Judge  Douglas Gruenke (Tuesday, Thursday), Associate Judge J. Marc Kelly (Friday), and Associate Judge Ericka Sanders (Tuesday) will be assigned by the Chief Judge’s Office. All other Circuit and Associate Judges will be subject to special assignment as ordered by the Chief Judge’s Office.

2)        The Chief Judge’s Office will make a Judge available to cover any Judge’s assignment when that Judge is on vacation.

3)         The Chief Judge’s Office will make a Judge available to cover daily calls when a Judge is conducting a jury trial, except for Christian County, which will be scheduled for one-daily judge settings during civil jury trial weeks (five per year); Fayette County, which will be scheduled for one-daily judge settings during all jury trial weeks; and Montgomery County, which will be scheduled for one-daily judge settings during civil jury trial weeks.

4)         No Judge will be available to cover in the event a Judge goes to a seminar. In such instances, the Judge shall clear his or her calendar for that particular day or days.  If a Judge takes any committee or teaching assignments or any other job related activity, they must first obtain approval for coverage from the Chief Judge’s Office before accepting the position.

5)         A Judge who has a conflict with a particular case assigned to him or her pursuant to this Administrative Order shall make arrangements with another Judge assigned to hear matters in the county in question to hear the conflict case. The Judge with the conflict shall hear the other Judge’s cases while that Judge hears the conflict case. If there are no other Judges assigned to the county in question who can hear the conflict case, the Chief Judge’s Office shall be contacted for the issuance of an Assignment Order assigning a Judge from outside the county in question to hear the conflict case.

6)         If a Judge not regularly assigned in a particular county is specially assigned to hear a conflict case in that county, the Judge who had the initial conflict shall make himself or herself available for assignment by the Chief Judge’s Office during the time the conflict case is being heard.

7)         All Judges, and the reporters assigned to them, shall promptly notify the Chief Judge’s Office of their availability for special assignment whenever their daily or trial matters are continued, settled or otherwise delayed.

8)         The Judge hearing criminal jury trials in each county will be responsible for impaneling the Grand Jury and Grand Jury proceedings. The Judge hearing daily criminal matters is designated to hear all criminal expungement proceedings.

9)        No cases shall be set that will run past the hour of 11:00 a.m. on Friday, January 12, 2024; Friday, April 5, 2024; Friday, July 12, 2024; and Friday, October 11, 2024, so that all Judges may attend a regularly scheduled judges’ meeting on those dates.  

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