How Winnebago County Court Dockets Work
The Winnebago County court dockets page is the Circuit Clerk's daily schedule list. The dockets page shows civil and criminal docket schedules by courtroom. It says clearly: dockets are updated at 3:00 p.m. daily. That update time matters. A morning view may miss the latest changes to the next court day. The page covers current day, next day, and day after for both civil and criminal calls.
The dockets page also warns users that docket reports are for preparation purposes only. The order on the report may not match the actual courtroom order. Judges, attorneys, and parties may move cases up, hold them, or pass them. The official courtroom docket controls the day. A printed page from the website should not be treated as the final calendar.
The image below shows the Circuit Clerk dockets page with the courtroom links and the 3:00 p.m. update notice.
Source page: Winnebago County Circuit Clerk dockets.
Civil Courtrooms on Winnebago County Court Dockets
Civil dockets cover courtrooms 217, 311, 314, 412, 426, 451, 455, 459, and 467 at the courthouse. The Circuit Clerk groups them under Civil Current Day, Next Day, and Day After. Each courtroom has its own schedule link. Family, probate, and forcible matters appear under the civil heading too, because Illinois treats those as civil case types under the 17th Judicial Circuit.
Civil case types use codes in the case number. Common Winnebago civil codes include L for Law over $50,000, LM for Law Minor, SC for Small Claim, AR for Arbitration, D for Dissolution, P for Probate, MR for Miscellaneous Remedies, and OP for Order of Protection. The case-number format runs year-code-serial. The Circuit Clerk FAQ gives 2013-TR-099999 as the format example. Every case-type code drives a different filing fee and a different statute path.
- Courtroom 217 - civil call.
- Courtroom 311 - civil and criminal hybrid call.
- Courtroom 314 - civil and criminal hybrid call.
- Courtrooms 412, 426, 451, 455, 459, and 467 - civil calls.
Criminal Courtrooms on Winnebago County Court Dockets
Criminal dockets cover courtrooms A, B, C, and D at the Criminal Justice Center plus a set of numbered courtrooms shared with civil work. The Circuit Clerk lists criminal current-day, next-day, and day-after links for courtrooms A, B, C, D, 125, 209, 216, 311, 314, 315, 316, 317, 467, and 478. Courtrooms A through D sit at 650 W. State Street. The numbered courtrooms sit at the main courthouse at 400 W. State Street. The hearing notice tells you the building.
The juvenile dockets are different. Juvenile courtrooms 1, 2, and 3 are at the Juvenile Justice Center at 211 S. Court Street. J, JA, and JD case types are handled by the juvenile clerk office. Juvenile dockets do not appear on the regular civil and criminal courtroom list and follow tighter confidentiality rules under 705 ILCS 405/1-7.
Winnebago County Court Calendar Search
The FullCourt Court Calendar is the second main docket tool. It filters by Date, Docket Type, Courtroom, Judge, Officer, and Prosecutor. The Docket Type list is long. Hearings appear in time blocks like 01:30 PM, 02:00 PM, 03:00 PM, and 04:00 PM, with a count for each docket type in that block. Click the hearing list link under a block to see party names and case numbers.
| Filter | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Date | Date picker | Defaults to today; format MM/DD/YYYY. |
| Docket Type | Dropdown | All, Civil, Criminal, Drug Court, TIP, Vet, Forcible, Foreclosure, and more. |
| Courtroom | Dropdown | 1, 108, 125, 2, 209, 216, 217, 3, 311, 314, 315, A, B, C, D, and others. |
| Judge | Autocomplete | Force-selection from the bench roster. |
| Officer | Autocomplete | Officer or agency. |
| Prosecutor | Autocomplete | Prosecutor or office. |
Winnebago County Court Docket Judges
The 17th Judicial Circuit posts the current judge roster on the judges page. Circuit judges are elected for six-year terms. Associate judges are appointed by circuit judges for four-year terms under Supreme Court Rule 39. Chief Judge Hon. Brendan A. Maher leads the local bench. Circuit judges on the roster include Joseph P. Bruscato, Lisa R. Fabiano, Gwyn Gulley, Erin C. Hannigan, Janet R. Holmgren, Nicholas O. Meyer, Scott P. Robinson, C. Robert Tobin III as Presiding Judge of Boone County, and Ronald J. White, with Kathryn E. Zenoff assigned to the 4th District Appellate Court.
Associate judges include Heidi E. Agustsson, Stephen E. Balogh, Ronald A. Barch, Erin B. Buhl, Jennifer J. Clifford, John T. Gibbons, Donna R. Honzel, Francis M. Martinez, Philip J. Nicolosi, Steven L. Nordquist, Scott R. Paccagnini, Amy K. Peterman, Todd A. Ramlow, Debra D. Schafer, Donald P. Shriver, Ryan A. Swift, and Tamika R. Walker. The judges page also lists recent administrative orders, including reassignments between Judge Maher, Judge Gibbons, and Judge Agustsson.
The image below shows the 17th Judicial Circuit judge roster page.
Source page: 17th Judicial Circuit judges.
Court Divisions on Winnebago County Dockets
The 17th Circuit splits its work into divisions. The court's courtrooms and divisions page lists Civil, Criminal, Family, Juvenile, and Orders of Protection. Each division feeds the daily docket. The same calendar shows a Probate Progress Call, a Motion Call, a Bench Trial, or a Prove Up depending on the case type. Specialty dockets like Drug Court, TIP, Family Drug Court, and Vet appear as their own docket types.
The image below shows the courtroom and division links page from the 17th Judicial Circuit.
Source page: 17th Judicial Circuit courtrooms and divisions.
Note: When the docket shows Motion Call or Prove Up, the courtroom may handle multiple short matters in a single time block, so arrive on time.
Common Docket Types in Winnebago County Court
Docket types on the FullCourt court calendar are short labels. Each label tells the courtroom and parties what kind of hearing is scheduled. Civil dockets often show Motion Call, First Return, Prove Up, Foreclosure, Forcible First Return, Arbitration, Bench Trial, or Jury. Criminal dockets often show Arraignment, Misd. Bonded Out Arraignment, Pretrial Conf. or Motions, Jury, Bench Trial, Drug Court, TIP, Vet, and SAO Cannabis. Family work uses CMC labels for Case Management Conferences.
- Motion Call - a block of short motion hearings.
- Prove Up - a brief default or uncontested final hearing.
- First Return - an early return-of-service appearance.
- Bench Trial - trial heard by the judge without a jury.
- Drug Court / TIP / Vet - specialty treatment court reviews.
- Forcible - eviction first return or motion.
- Probate Progress Call - probate review with the judge.
Some FOIA matters affect the docket too. The image below shows the sheriff online FOIA request page, which is the route for sheriff records that may turn up in criminal docket hearings.
Source page: Sheriff online FOIA request.
Alternatives to the Winnebago County Court Dockets Page
FullCourt and the Circuit Clerk dockets page are the official local sources. Free third-party tools like CourtListener host federal opinions and dockets but are not the source for state circuit dockets. Federal docket information for the Northern District of Illinois lives on CM/ECF with a PACER account. Online payment for a state case uses the Circuit Clerk payment portal linked from the dockets page.
The image below shows CourtListener, useful for federal opinion lookup but not local Winnebago dockets.
Source page: CourtListener.
The image below shows the Govpaynow page that powers some local fee deposits and payments tied to dockets.
Source page: Govpaynow online deposits.
Hearing Notices and the Winnebago County Court Calendar
A hearing notice is the controlling document for any Winnebago County court date. The notice from the judge or clerk states the date, time, courtroom, and case number. The online calendar should match in most cases, but the courtroom order on the day of hearing is set in the courtroom. If a courtroom is reassigned by administrative order, the online calendar may take a day to update. The 17th Circuit's recent administrative orders include reassignments to Judge Gibbons and Judge Agustsson.
Note: When the online calendar and the paper notice disagree, follow the paper notice and verify with the Circuit Clerk at 815-319-4500 if there is still doubt.
An attorney who appears regularly in front of one judge learns the practical order of a courtroom: motions early, prove ups midmorning, contested matters last. A first-time visitor does not have that map. The court calendar at least shows the general block, even if the actual order changes during the day.
What to Do If You Missed a Winnebago County Court Date
The Circuit Clerk FAQ says a defendant who missed court should wait for clerk updates, search online or in person, and file appropriate paperwork if a new judge date is needed. For traffic and criminal cases, allow two business days for the case to update before trying to set a new date. Only the defendant or the attorney may file paperwork or set criminal dates. For incarcerated defendants without counsel, requests must come through the mail; third-party delivery is not accepted. A fee may apply when a new motion or date is set.
For warrant follow-up, see Winnebago County warrant records. For court-record copies, see court records. For arrest detail, see criminal records. For traffic-only steps, see traffic court records. For the keeper of the file, see the Clerk of the Circuit Court.