Tazewell County Court Records

Tazewell County Courts, IL *

Located in central Illinois, Tazewell County was founded in 1827 and named after Littleton Waller Tazewell, a U.S. Senator who later became the Governor of Virginia in 1834. The county seat and largest city is Pekin. Tazewell County's economy is primarily sustained by agriculture, which covers 78% of the land area, while manufacturing, anchored by Caterpillar Inc.'s Peoria-area operations, drives industrial employment.

The county's Judicial system is part of the Illinois Unified Court System and the 10th Judicial Circuit of Illinois. It has a single Circuit Court, meaning no standalone municipal courts or any other courts. The County Circuit Court presides over all cases filed within the county and is a court of general jurisdiction, capable of handling both minor and major cases.

Overview of the Tazewell County Court System

The Tazewell County Court system is presided over by the Presiding Circuit Judge, who oversees law and felony matters in the county and is elected by voters, and by five appointed Associate Judges, appointed by the Circuit Judges. To successfully manage all the county's caseload under a single Circuit Court, cases are categorized into six divisions: Civil Division, Juvenile Division, Family Division, Traffic/Ordinance Division, Probate Division, and Criminal Division. All the county judicial offices are located within a single building, the Tazewell County Courthouse.

To effectively run day-to-day operations, the Tazewell County Circuit Court has a dedicated Circuit Clerk's office responsible for all administrative functions of the court. The Circuit Clerk's Office is responsible for maintaining the official court records for all case types, recording documents for filings and appeals, managing the daily court docket, collecting and processing all court fees and payments, managing e-filing and the online records portal, and performing many other administrative roles.

Types of Courts in Tazewell County, Illinois

The Tazewell County Circuit Court represents the single trial court of general jurisdiction within the county operating as part of the 10th Judicial Circuit of Illinois. It is located inside Tazewell's County Courthouse and presides over the following cases:

Felony criminal cases
Misdemeanor criminal cases
Civil cases above small claims thresholds
Associate civil and small claims up to $10,000
Dissolution of marriage, custody, child support, and family matters
Juvenile delinquency, abuse, and neglect proceedings
Traffic offenses and conservation citations
Probate, decedents' estates, guardianships, and wills
Adoption proceedings
Eviction (forcible entry and detainer) and foreclosure
Orders of protection and stalking no-contact orders
Ordinance violations from municipalities within the county
Mortgage foreclosure mediation
Adult Drug Court

To successfully preside over all the cases filed within Tazewell County, the County's Circuit Court has two well-defined divisions where cases are heard:

The Criminal Division presides over the following cases: criminal felony (CF), criminal misdemeanor (CM), conservation violation (CV), ordinance violations (OV), juvenile, juvenile abuse/neglect, juvenile delinquency (J/JA/JD), and criminal contempt (CC).
The Traffic Division presides over all traffic and driving under the influence tickets filed within the county, such as traffic citations (TR), petty/business offenses, and misdemeanor traffic offenses (MT).

How to Access Tazewell County Court Records

Most court case records in Tazewell County are publicly accessible, though a small majority are sealed and restricted. These records include juvenile case records, adoption files, mental health records, expunged or sealed criminal records, and order of protection records. These sealed and restricted records help protect the privacy of the involved parties, such as minors, adoption family records, or personal health records covered under mental health records. For public records, residents can access them in several ways, including online and in-person requests, as detailed below.

Online Access

Tazewell County residents can access court case records remotely through the county-provided Tazewell County Portal, which requires users to register or search for records as guests, select the desired categories, and enter search criteria. The available information depends on the Illinois Supreme Court Remote Access Policy, effective January 2020. From the portal, residents can access a wide range of case records, including case index searches by name, case numbers, and dates, civil, criminal, and family case information, and daily court dockets.

Alternative Online Options

With CourtCaseFinder, residents can pull case records with a single search, leveraging the platform's ability to aggregate records from different public platforms into a single result, making it easier to identify case records faster. This option is quite helpful when one has only a few case identifiers. Meanwhile, the county options cause residents to have to search case records across multiple categories, which is both exhausting and time-consuming.

In-Person Requests

Tazewell County residents can also access court case records by physically visiting the County Circuit Clerk's office, where they can view physical case records, certified court case files, and archived case records. When visiting the Circuit clerk's office, residents are advised to bring case identifiers, such as case numbers, party names, and approximate filing dates. This information helps Clerk officials easily find the correct case records in the case record index system used to file them in the records room.

Archived Records

County residents can also access archived court case records, which are mainly in hard copy. Tazewell County archived case records are accessible from the Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) at Illinois State University in Normal. From this location, residents can access 19th- and 20th-century probate records/wills, county clerk records, Circuit Court case files, naturalization records, and marriage and vital record indexes. These records can be accessed in person at the IRAD reading room, by phone, or by mail.

For Attorneys and Legal Professionals

Attorneys from outside Tazewell County who pick up a case here should start with the Rules of the Circuit Court of the 10th Judicial Circuit. These rules govern every Tazewell matter and depart from baseline Illinois Supreme Court rules, especially regarding case management conferences, mortgage foreclosure mediation, and domestic relations administrative orders. Knowing the rotation of judges across the five counties of the Tenth Circuit also matters, since the judge on a Tazewell case may be different from the one assigned the previous term.

For case access and filings, attorneys of record can register for enhanced visibility on the Tazewell County Portal, subject to the Illinois Supreme Court Remote Access Policy. All civil filings, as well as subsequent felony and misdemeanor filings, move through eFileIL. Scheduling questions go to the courtroom clerk directly using the contacts on the Courtroom Assignments page. For certified copies, fee questions, and general matters, contact the Tazewell County Circuit Clerk.

How to File a Case in Tazewell County

Filing cases in Tazewell County is one of the key areas of the county court system where most county residents begin their interaction with the county's judicial system. It is a delicate and sensitive part that requires the filer's undivided attention and understanding of the Tazewell County court system. This helps avoid errors such as incorrect case type, incorrect case forms, or incorrect filing fees, which can result in case rejection, dismissal, stalling, and wasted time and money. To help filers avoid these instances and maintain full control of the filing process, the following steps break it down into small, manageable portions.

Step 1: Choose the Correct Court

Within the Tazewell County court system, the court selection process is replaced by a case-type-determining phase under the county's single trial court system. With a Tazewell County Circuit Court presiding over all the county's filed cases, residents do not have a choice of court; instead, they identify the division in which their case falls. The court operates two key divisions: the Traffic Division and the Criminal Division. With this understanding, the filer is able ot correctly align their legal matter with the correct case type.

Step 2: Complete Required Forms

With the correct case type selected, the filer can select the appropriate case forms from the Illinois Supreme Court Approved Statewide Forms or the Tazewell County Local Forms Platform. Filers can access all case types, including small claim complaints, order of protection petitions, appearance forms, summons forms, and civil complaint or petition forms, among others. Filers also have access to a statewide online form-filing platform. This Illinois Legal Aid Online Easy Forms tool helps filers complete their case forms through an interview approach: It asks the filer questions and uses their answers to generate a correctly completed case form. The tool helps ensure the case form filing process is carried out correctly with minimum error.

Step 3: File the Case

Once the correct case forms have been filled out, the filer proceeds to file the case. In Tazewell County, e-filing is the mandatory case filing method, carried out through eFileIL, with Odyssey eFileIL as the supported Electronic Filing Service Provider. The Tazewell County Court system e-filing process involves registering an account with eFileIL, adding the case and party information, uploading the case documents as PDFs, each uploaded separately, adding a payment account, and submitting for review. Filers can also file their cases on paper if granted an e-filing exemption under certain conditions, such as a lack of internet connection or when filing protected case types. For this type of filing, filers must do it at the Circuit Clerk's office.

Step 4: Pay Filing Fees

Filing cases in Tazewell County requires payment of filing fees that vary depending on the type of case. The County Court system provides filers with the correct case filing fee schedule by posting it on the county website on the fee schedule page. Filers need to carefully confirm the correct case filing fees on the page to avoid paying the wrong fees, which can result in case stalling or rejection. Also, for the filers who are not able to raise the needed case filing fees, the county provides them with a case filing fee waiver that requires them to submit an Application for Waiver of Court Fees, which is reviewed by the court based on the filer's income and can be denied, approved fully, or partially.

Step 5: Serve the Other Party

Once the case is filed, the defendant must be formally notified of the case against them, which is done through a process known as service of process. In Tazewell County, this process is carried out through the Sheriff's office. Once the process is completed and the defendant is served, the Sheriff files a proof of service record with the Circuit Clerk's office. The filer is also advised to save the record and ensure the court has the records before the court proceedings start. This ensures that the case does not stall.

Step 6: Monitor the Case

With all the steps correctly executed, the filer now has to monitor their new active case, which requires the provided case number during filing. In the Tazewell County Court system, the monitoring is carried out through the Tazewell County Portal, where the filer can monitor the current state of the case, scheduled hearings, continuance and rescheduled dates, judgments and dispositions, outstanding case balances and payment history, a list of all filed documents and pleadings, and names of parties and attorneys. Filers can also monitor the case through the Circuits Clerk's office by in-person visits or phone contact.

Tazewell County Courthouse Directory

Tazewell County Courthouse

Houses every division of the Circuit Court: Civil and Misdemeanor (Courtroom 101), Juvenile (Courtroom 104), Associate Civil and Small Claims (Courtroom 202), Traffic (Courtroom 207), Dissolution and Family (Courtroom 302), and Felony (Courtroom 308). It also accommodates the Circuit Clerk's Office, the Court Administrator, the Law Library, the Self-Represented Litigant Help Desk, the State's Attorney's main office, and the courthouse advocacy office for the Center for Prevention of Abuse.

Pekin

Address: 342 Court Street, Pekin, IL 61554

Tazewell County Circuit Clerk's Office: (309) 477-2218

Website: illinoiscourts.gov/courts-directory/161/Tazewell-County-Courthouse/court/

Legal Help and Self-Help Resources

Tazewell County residents have access to a wide range of legal aid resources, for example, non-profit organizations, county-supported resources, and state-provided platforms that give residents access to free legal assistance and local legal support.

Free Legal Assistance

Prairie State Legal Service (PSLS) is one of the primary free civil legal service providers accessible to the Tazewell County residents. It is a non-profit law firm founded in 1977 that gives residents access to a wide range of civil legal services, including eviction and foreclosure defense, standard housing condition complaints, order of protection, family law matters, loss or denial of government benefits, elderly law, and bankruptcy. Residents also have access to the Tazewell County Legal Self-Help Center, a free online service operated through the Illinois Legal Aid Online platform and dedicated specifically to Tazewell County. From the platform, residents can get access to step-by-step instructions for common legal problems such as eviction, custody, divorce, and small claims, document and form preparation services, and an easy, interview-style document builder, along with plain-language explanations of legal rights and responsibilities.

Local Legal Support

Tazewell County residents have access to local legal support from the Illinois State Bar Association's Lawyer Finder referral tool, which provides a searchable directory of Illinois-licensed attorneys by practice area and location, low-fee initial consultations through participating attorneys, and free guidance on whether legal help is actually needed. County residents also have access to the Tazewell County Law Library, which is the courthouse-based legal research facility open to attorneys and the public. Here, residents have access to case laws, legal treaties, and Illinois statutes. Residents also have access to computers for legal research and e-filings, and access to the Illinois Legal Aid Online self-help portal.

FAQs

Where can I see my Tazewell County case online?

Tazewell County publishes case information through the Tazewell County Portal. The new portal can be searched using the party name or case number. For statewide context across multiple Illinois counties, re:SearchIL is the other official option. Older closed cases may be available only in the Circuit Clerk's paper files.

Do I have to e-file in Tazewell County, or can I still walk paperwork into the courthouse?

Illinois has required electronic filing for civil cases since January 1, 2018, and Tazewell County follows that rule through eFileIL. Walk-in paper filing is only allowed with an approved e-filing exemption, for example, self-represented filers without internet access. Without a waiver, the Circuit Clerk's Office will direct filers back to the online portal.

Where do I go to get an Order of Protection in Pekin?

Petitions for Orders of Protection are filed at the Tazewell County Circuit Clerk's Office and heard in the Circuit Court. For free advocacy and courtroom accompaniment, the Center for Prevention of Abuse keeps an office in Room 301 of the courthouse and a local office at Fourth and Court Streets. There is no fee to file an Order of Protection.

How do I get a certified copy of a divorce decree from Tazewell County?

Certified copies are issued by the Circuit Clerk's Office. Bring photo ID, the case number or full names of the parties, and the approximate year. A small fee is added for these records. If the divorce is several decades old, the file may have been transferred to the Illinois Regional Archives Depository at Illinois State University.

What's the fastest way to track cases when I have filings in both Tazewell and Peoria counties?

Each county runs its own clerk's portal, so checking them separately works but takes time. The statewide re:SearchIL portal covers Illinois circuit courts in one search, and aggregator sites such as CourtCaseFinder pull public-records data from multiple jurisdictions, which is useful when a defendant or party has matters spread across Tazewell, Peoria, and other counties without logging into separate systems.

Tazewell County Court Records Lookup

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