How to Understand Material on Judici - Part 2: Docket/History Entries

Originally published May 8th, 2008 on The East Central Illinois Criminal Law & DUI Weblog

By: Jeremy Richey

On Judici, you can find clerk docket entries by clicking the “history” link after you have pulled up a case.  The history section can be a bit mysterious if you don’t understand the jargon and acronyms used. In this post, you will become familiar with some of the more common acronyms and words used in criminal cases on Judici, but, by no means is this an exhaustive discussion of terms that you might encounter.

In this segment, I have posted a clerk docket entry (modified from a real misdemeanor case) and provided commentary on it. Please note that I have added numbers inside brackets (for example, [1]) in the below material — my commentary follows and corresponds with the inserted numbers. [Cnv- table]

1. This docket entry is in reverse chronological order. In other words, the newer material appears at the top of the page and the older at the bottom.

2. Assistant State’s Attorney.  An assistant state’s attorney is a criminal prosecutor who works for the elected state’s attorney.

3. Defendant

4. In this case, attorney Darrow is the defendant’s attorney.

5. The defendant is entering a voluntary guilty plea. Instead of going through a trial and a sentencing hearing, the defendant decided to admit his guilt. He will receive the sentence he negotiated for.

6. In this case, two counts (or two different ways the defendant violated the criminal law) were filed against the defendant.

7. Fine and court costs

8. Restitution is money paid to a victim to cover the victim’s losses resulting from the crime.

9. This defendant is required to visit an alcohol and drug counselor, obtain an evaluation, and complete any treatment recommended by the counselor.

10. This defendant received a 90-day jail sentence, however, he will not have to serve it if he stays in continual compliance with his probation order. The jail time is stayed (suspended) for the time being. If the judge receives a bad report from this defendant’s probation officer, the judge can order the defendant to serve some of (or the entire) 90-day jail sentence.

11. The State gave a brief factual summary of the actions of the defendant and the judge agreed that those facts supported the charges filed against the defendant.

12. In many criminal cases, the Information is a document the State files with the court. It contains the charge or charges against the defendant. This document is one way that a criminal case can get started in the court system.

13. At this point in time, the defendant pleaded not guilty and requested a jury trial. This is very common at this stage in a criminal case.

14. The defendant was ordered to appear in court on February 6, 2008 at 10 a.m.

15. These are documents filed by a defense attorney. The first lets the court and the state’s attorney know that the defendant is represented by counsel. The second seeks information possessed by the State about the defendant’s case.