Cook County’s new electronic ticketing initiative promises more efficiency, fewer delays

Processing and paying certain kinds of traffic tickets will be easier in Cook County with the introduction of electronic ticketing.

Dozens of suburbs and the city of Chicago will take part in a new e-Citation program enabling law enforcement officers to file some traffic citations digitally, replacing the long-standing manual process which requires court clerks to retype handwritten tickets into the system.

The new initiative is a major step forward in the processing of traffic violations, according to Cook County Circuit Clerk Mariyana T. Spyropoulos.

“It has been a large undertaking to get us to electronic ticketing but we are happy to say it's going smoothly,” Spyropoulos said of system she expects will reduce delays, decrease errors and save residents time.

“We hope that it brings peace of mind to people, makes their lives easier and makes this office something people can be proud of,” Spyropoulos said.

Under the new system, an officer uses a tablet or other electronic device to write a ticket and transmit the information to the law enforcement agency for approval. The agency then transmits the information to the court clerk's office. The process takes 24 to 48 hours compared to seven to 10 days under the previous system.

The paper-based system was “a bulky, unwieldy process subject to a lot of inconsistencies, subject to errors,” Spyropoulos said. “This is going to streamline all of that.”

Clerks have been processing about 1,200 tickets a day, according to Spyropoulos. Annually, the clerk's office handles 200,000 to 300,000 citations, about 50% of them from Chicago.

The pilot e-Citation program began Dec. 2 in a few municipalities. It has since expanded to 40 suburbs, including Arlington Heights, Des Plaines, Elk Grove Village, Glencoe, Glenview, Hoffman Estates, Palatine, Prospect Heights, Rosemont, Schaumburg, South Barrington and Wheeling. Spyropoulos expects all 102 Cook County law enforcement agencies will adopt e-citations by summer.

Individuals who receive citations from participating agencies for offenses including speeding, failure to stop at a stop sign, failure to wear a seat belt, operating an uninsured vehicle and others can pay their fines at cookcountyclerkofcourt.org/e-citation.

Red-light camera and parking violations are exempted.

Spyropoulos said she intends to further modernize the office by implementing an e-notification system for court hearings and allow for more efficient online payments and traffic school registration.