Chief Judge Janet Holmgren announced today that the Winnebago County Courts will be ending the majority of court activity by 3:00 PM on Fridays to meet the reductions experienced in the 2010 Winnebago County Budget.  As was previously reported, beginning on October 1, 2009, the State’s Attorney and Circuit Clerk’s offices will be reducing the number of hours employees work from 40 hours per week to 38 hours per week by closing their offices at 3:00 PM each Friday afternoon. County-funded employees from the Circuit Court, Court Services Department, Jury Commission and the Public Defender’s Office will be doing the same.

Because Judges and Court Reporters are state-funded positions, these personnel will continue to work their regular schedules. The Court plans to continue hearing actions that may not require staff from the county offices, as well as to process Orders of Protections and to be available for warrants.

The action of ending most court activity by 3:00 PM on Friday was seen as the most feasible and fair solution to meet the reductions required by the economic crisis while having the least impact upon court operations and case processing. 

This change in Court hours is intended to be temporary; however, it may last for the entire 2010 fiscal year. Winnebago County will continue to monitor the financial situation and the intent is to restore court operations to full capacity at the earliest possible date.

####