Cases from the 13th Judicial Circuit (LaSalle County) are appealed to the 3rd District Appellate Court in Ottawa. A Notice of Appeal must be filed with the Circuit Clerk within 30 days of the entry of the Judgment or Order from which you are appealing.
The cost to file an appeal is based on the number of pages in the court file. You will be billed accordingly before the appeal is prepared by the clerk. If the appeal is under 100 pages, the cost is $50.00 If the appeal is 100 - 200 pages the cost is $100.00 and and if the appeal is over 200 pages the cost will be $100.00 plus $.25 per page over 200 pages.
The Court Reporters are notified when a Notice of Appeal is filed, however they do not prepare the written transcript unless ordered by you personally. If a Court Reporter was present during any of the hearings and/or the trial, a typewritten transcript of that proceeding can be ordered from them. Prior to ordering a transcript of proceedings, a litigant/individual should have the case name, the case number, the date of hearing, and the initials of the official court reporter who reported the hearing. This information can be obtained at the Circuit Clerk's Office. A litigant/individual should then contact the Chief Judge's Office at 815-434-0786 with the request for the transcription of proceedings. The Chief Judge's Office will then direct a litigant/individual to the official court reported who reported the proceedings. Arrangements will be made directly with the official court reporter for payment of transcription and delivery of the transcript. Certain proceedings may be confidential and unavailable for transcription, such as adoption or juvenile proceedings.
Any written transcripts ordered and received by you must be filed in our office for inclusion in the record on appeal, as are any exhibits that were submitted at the time of hearing or trial.
The electronic transcript of Record on Appeal, Report of Proceedings and all Exhibits are generally due in the Appellate Court 62 days after date of filing the Notice of Appeal. Exceptions to this rule are as follows:
*Expedited child custody or visitation appeal - 35 days. Refer to Supreme Court Rule 311
Other types of appeals have different date requirements. Please make sure you you adhere to the dates in the Supreme Court Rule governing the type of appeal you are filing. If there are no additional charges, the record will be forwarded to you or the Appellate Court, whichever your request is in this matter. In the event of additional costs, it will be forwarded upon receipt of payment of said costs.
Docketing Statement
The docketing statement should be completed and forwarded along with the correct fees to the Clerk of the Appellate Court. The docketing statement is due in the Appellate Court within 14 days of filing the Notice of Appeal with our office.
Once your docketing statement is received at the Appellate Court, you will receiving a Briefing Schedule of all the due dates for the record on appeal.
Be advised that your failure to comply with any of the above instructions will result in the dismissal of your appeal by the Appellate Court.
THE CIRCUIT CLERK'S OFFICE CANNOT ASSIST YOU WITH FILLING OUT THE APPEAL FORMS. BY LAW, THE CIRCUIT CLERK'S OFFICE IS PROHIBITED FROM GIVING LEGAL ADVICE.