Foreclosure cases moving to branch court
Uncontested foreclosure cases will be heard at the Park City branch court starting next month, Chief Judge James Booras has announced.
The reason for moving the uncontested cases out of the main courthouse is the unprecedented increase in the number of foreclosure cases being filed.
Court records show that foreclosure cases increased 96.9 percent from 2004 to 2008, moving from a total of 1704 in 2004 to 3,357 last year.
Court calls went from an average of 125 cases per day in the last half of 2006 to an average of 249 cases per day in the last half of 2008.
The result was the assignment of as many as four judges at a time hearing foreclosure cases, with litigants overflowing into the hallways as they waited for their cases to be called.
So beginning June 2, uncontested foreclosures will be heard at Park City on the first four Friday mornings of the month and all day every other Tuesday.
Circuit Court Clerk Sally Cofelt has provided special civil court procedure training for branch court clerks to better assist homeowners whose cases are assigned to Park City.
Booras said officials are also reproducing a brochure on the foreclosure process from the Legal Assistance Foundation of Chicago and have beefed up the online Center for Self-Representation with more information for homeowners who cannot afford attorneys.
Contested or complicated foreclosure cases will continue to be heard in the chancery courtroom at the main courthouse in Waukegan.
Park City branch court is located at 301 S. Greenleaf Ave., between Belvedere Road and Washington Street.
Court milestone:
A graduation ceremony is scheduled for today for two more participants in the Lake County Drug Court program.
Harold Cline of Libertyville and David Hoff of Zion have completed the rigorous 30-month program that included drug treatment, weekly counseling appointments and close scrutiny from a team of court officials and rehabilitation specialists.
The Lake County Drug Court program was started in 2005 and is one of 2,301 programs throughout the country designed to reduce recidivism by helping people conquer the addictions that are the foundation of their criminal behavior.
The ceremony will mark the 20th anniversary of the national drug court movement, which has averaged a 70 percent success rate since its inception in Florida in 1989.
Cline and Hoff are the sixth and seventh individuals to have completed the program in Lake County.
Luncheon set:
The 7th annual "Women Helping Women" luncheon to benefit the Zacharias Sexual Abuse Center has been scheduled for June 19.
The event will feature a keynote address by Katie Hnida, who made history by becoming the first female place-kicker to score in Division I football and later came forward with allegations she was raped and sexually harassed by teammates at the University of Colorado.
Melissa Foreman of WLIT-FM will serve as emcee for the event, set for 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the center, at 4275 Old Grand Avenue in Gurnee.
Tickets are $100 each and group packages are available.
For more information or to register, call Betty Duncan and (847) 244-1187, ext. 37 or visit zcenter.org.