Case Categories

The following is a listing of Case Categories, followed by lists of subcategories, as defined by the Circuit Clerk’s Manual on Recordkeeping from the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts (revised January 1, 2022). This list of subcategories is not intended to be comprehensive, rather it is intended to illustrate the kinds of actions that are filed under the various categories.

Civil:

Arbitration (AR)

  • Mandatory Arbitration under Supreme Court Rules 86-95

Chancery (CH)

  • Abandoned mobile home
  • Appointment of Special Administrator
  • Construction of inter vivos trust
  • Construction of testamentary trust (After Probate case has been closed)
  • Contract Actions – specific performance
  • Detinue
  • Equitable Lien
  • Exhume a body
  • Foreclosure of security interest in personal property
  • Injunction (except in Tax and Dissolution cases)
  • Mechanic’s lien foreclosure
  • Partition
  • Partnership dissolution
  • Petition for Issuance of Marriage Certificate (Adult)
  • Quiet title
  • Rescission of contract
  • Removal of private compromising image (take-down order)
  • Restraining order
  • Specific performance
  • Structured settlement, original action to assign
  • Trust Administration

Eminent Domain (ED)

Eviction (EV)

  • Commercial
  • Residential
  • Ejectment

Foreclosure (fC)

  • Residential Real Estate
  • Commercial Real Estate
  • Residential Foreclosure/Termination of Lease

Government Corporation (GC)

  • Drainage Assessment (Except Tax Collection)
  • Foreclosure of Lien for Special Assessment
  • Petition for annexation for election
  • Petition for the creation of a drainage district
  • Petition to change form of government
  • Petition to disconnect from fire district
  • Petition to dissolve government corporation
  • Retailer’s Occupation Tax
  • Special Assessment (To Change or Restrain Collection)

Guardianship (GR)

  • Guardianship of Minor
  • Guardianship of Person with Disability
  • Guardianship of Estate of a Living Person

Law: Damages over $50,000 (LA)

  • Arbitration and award
  • Asbestos
  • Civil Remedies for Nonconsensual Dissemination of Private Sexual Images Act
  • Contract – money damages only
  • Confession of judgment
  • Distress for rent
  • Recover support/contribution
  • Replevin
  • Statutory action by state or political subdivision to recover support or contribution
  • Tort – money damages
  • Trover
  • Wrongful Death

Law: Damages 50,000 or less (other than small claims) (LM)

  • Arbitration and award
  • Civil Remedies for Nonconsensual Dissemination of Private Sexual Images Act
  • Contract – money damages over $10,000 only
  • Confession of judgment
  • Distress for rent
  • Recover support/contribution
  • Replevin
  • Statutory action by state or political subdivision to recover support or contribution
  • Tort – money damages over $10,000
  • Trover
  • Wrongful Death

Mental Health (MH)

  • Petition for hospitalization
  • Petition for discharge
  • Petition for restoration
  • Petition to administer treatment

Miscellaneous Remedy (MR)

  • Abatement of Nuisance
  • Administrative Review – Unemployment
  • Adult Protective Services Act
  • Appointment of Receiver
  • Building Code Violation
  • Burnt records
  • Certiorari
  • Change of name
  • Confirmation of Election Judge
  • Consumer Fraud/Deceptive Business Practice
  • Contagious Disease
  • Corporation dissolution
  • Declaratory Judgment
  • Demolition
  • Election contest
  • Escheat
  • Fictitious Vital Record
  • Lost goods or money
  • Mandamus
  • Ne exeat (original action)
  • Petition to destroy evidence
  • Petition for discovery or to depose
  • Quo warranto
  • Review of administrative proceedings (other than tax commission)
  • Sexually transmissible disease control proceeding

Probate (pR)

  • Administration of Decedent’s Estate
  • Missing Person
  • Wrongful Death/Collection of Judgment

Small Claim (sC)

  • Contract – money damages $10,000 or less only
  • Tort – money damages $10,000 or less 

Tax (tX)

  • Annual tax sale (Assigned 1st case number each year)
  • Drainage assessment tax collection
  • Petition for tax deed
  • Sale in error
  • Scavenger tax sale
  • Tax commission, review of decision
  • Tax foreclosure
  • Tax injunction
  • Tax refund/objection

Family & Juvenile:

Adoption (AD)

Dissolution with Children (DC)

  • Invalidity
  • Dissolution
  • Legal Separation
  • Dissolution of civil union

Dissolution without Children (DN)

  • Invalidity
  • Dissolution
  • Legal Separation
  • Dissolution of civil union

Family (FA)

  • Invalidity
  • Dissolution
  • Legal Separation
  • Dissolution of civil union

Juvenile abuse & Neglect (JA)

Juvenile Delinquent (JD)

Juvenile (JV)

  • Truancy
  • Sexting
  • Emancipation of Minor
  • Petition for Issuance of Marriage License/Civil Union Certificate (Minor)

Other

Contempt of Court (CC)

  • Jurors who do not respond to summons or who are absent
  • Civil Contempt of Court (direct or indirect)
  • Criminal Contempt of Court (direct or indirect)

Civil Law Violation (CL)

Miscellaneous Criminal (MX) (non-classified criminal actions)

  • Administrative Subpoena
  • Application for order authorizing eavesdropping or electronic criminal surveillance
  • Appointment of Special Prosecutor
  • Asset forfeitures
  • Attachment (Original Action)
  • Certificate of Innocence
  • Eavesdropping
  • Expungement petition (for arrest without charge)
  • Extradition
  • Fugitive from Justice
  • Grand Jury Investigator
  • Habeas Corpus (civil or criminal)
  • Interstate and Intrastate probationer transfer (each transfer is assigned a separate case number)
  • Petition to Expunge (Governor’s Pardon)
  • Petition for Rule to Show Cause against a Juror for Failure to Appear
  • Petition to Seal (when no criminal case exists)
  • Petition to Secure Testimony for Out-of-state Witness
  • Peace Bond Fugitive/Probationer Transfers
  • Rendition
  • Search Warrant (complaint for search warrant not related to pending case; each search warrant assigned a separate case number)
  • Sexually violent person commitment proceeding 
  • Statewide Grand Jury proceedings (prior to determination of venue for prosecution)
  • Statutory Summary Suspension (when no DT case is filed)

Order of protection (OP)

  • Order of Protection
  • Civil No Contact Order
  • Stalking No Contact Order
  • Firearm Restraining Order

Criminal, Domestic violence, DUI, Traffic, Ordinance, Quasi-Criminal & Conservation:

Criminal Felony (CF)

  • Any violation of the criminal code or other Illinois statue classified as a Murder, Class X, 1, 2, 3, or 4 felony, which provides for the imprisonment in the state penitentiary for more than one year.

Criminal Misdemeanor (CM)

  • Any violation of the criminal code or other Illinois statute classified as Class A, B or C misdemeanor, that provides for a fine or imprisonment in a penal institution other than the state penitentiary for a term of less than one year.

Conservation Violation (CV)

  • Any violation of the State Conservation Act or other ordinances relating to conservation.

Driving Under the Influence (DT)

  • Driving Under the Influence – Illinois Vehicle Code
  • Operating Under the Influence – Watercraft
  • Operating Under the Influence – Snowmobile

Domestic Violence (DV)

Major Traffic (MT)

Ordinance Violation (OV)

Quasi-Criminal (QC)

Minor Traffic (TR)