Illinois Reports Growing Complaints of “Misconduct, and Physical and Mental Incapacity of Judges”

A recent report by the Illinois Auditor General exposed serious problems in enforcing the state’s judicial ethics. Due to board vacancies and underfunding, the Judicial Inquiry Board had “an inventory of 311 pending complaints,” including “a growing inventory level of pending complaints concerning alleged misconduct or physical or mental incapacity of judicial officers.” The Board operated for 811 days and 1,360 days without filling constitutionally mandated board positions for non-lawyers. From 2012-2014, the board operated with two investigators, and one person who served as its executive director and general counsel. Click here for details.