The Illinois State Bar Association’s Lawyer Finder Service provides referrals to local lawyers Mondays through Fridays. The Service makes referrals in a number of areas of law. For the month of October, 2021, ISBA helped 771 people in need of legal services find lawyers. 

The Illinois Supreme Court announced a new order which modifies the Court-Based Rental Assistance Program (CBRAP) in order to grant the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) and Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA) access to information in sealed eviction court files. CBRAP is available in all Illinois counties outside Cook and the City of Chicago. Both Cook County and the City of Chicago received separate federal funding and have their own court-based rental assistance program as part of Cook’s Early Resolution Program.

Illinois Supreme Court Clerk Carolyn Taft Grosboll, who led the transformation of the office from paper to digital and other important efforts since January 3, 2011, has announced her retirement effective November 30, 2021. Cynthia A. Grant has been appointed as the new Clerk of the Supreme Court effective December 1, 2021.

How might Illinois take more seriously its Constitution’s directive of returning offenders of all ages to useful citizenship. In their October Illinois Bar Journal article, “Useful Sentencing,” Andrea D. Lyon and Hannah J. Brooks show how Illinois courts have interpreted this part of the state’s constitution in lockstep with the U.S. Supreme Court’s interpretations of the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution’s prohibition against “cruel and unusual” punishment—and how Illinois has seriously reassessed its position on sentencing in light of the major decisions on that subject from both the U.S. Supreme Court and the Illinois Supreme Court.