No, Illinois does not have CCAP like Wisconsin. Where Wisconsin runs every circuit court case through one free, searchable statewide database (WCCA, built on the Consolidated Court Automation Programs system), Illinois splits court record access across at least three separate platforms: re:SearchIL for primarily civil filings, Judici for criminal and civil records in roughly 82 counties, and individual county clerk portals that each operate independently. Finding an Illinois court record often means checking more than one of them, and knowing which county handled the case matters far more than it does in Wisconsin.
What Wisconsin’s CCAP Does That Illinois Doesn’t
Wisconsin’s CCAP provides IT services to the entire state court system, and its public-facing search tool lets anyone look up circuit court cases statewide from a single website covering civil, criminal, juvenile, and traffic matters at no charge.1Wisconsin Court System. Consolidated Court Automation Programs (CCAP) Every Wisconsin county feeds into the same case management system, so a name search returns results from every jurisdiction at once. No login required.
Illinois took a different path. Each of the state’s 102 counties maintains its own clerk’s office and its own database for case records.2Office of the Illinois Courts. Circuit Court Clerks The Illinois Supreme Court has built re:SearchIL as a statewide bridge, but it doesn’t yet match the scope or simplicity of Wisconsin’s tool. Criminal records are especially scattered, and a comprehensive conviction history requires a separate request through the Illinois State Police. If you’re used to typing a name into one box and getting everything, expect more legwork in Illinois.
re:SearchIL: The Closest Thing to a Statewide Portal
re:SearchIL is Illinois’s attempt at a centralized court records search. It’s managed by the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts, hosted by Tyler Technologies, and pulls case data from all 102 counties into a single portal.3re:SearchIL. re:SearchIL The platform describes itself as especially useful in “non-unified states where access to statewide court information from a single unified website was previously impossible.”
To use it, you need a free eFileIL account. Registration is required; there’s no anonymous guest search like Wisconsin offers.3re:SearchIL. re:SearchIL Coverage leans heavily toward civil case types. Licensed Illinois attorneys currently have access to non-confidential documents in six categories: Arbitration, Eminent Domain, Law, Law Magistrate, Municipal Corporation, and Tax.4re:SearchIL. re:SearchIL – Cross-Jurisdictional Access to Illinois Court Cases Public users can view case data but may find fewer document types available than attorneys do.
One recent expansion: in May 2025, the Illinois Supreme Court made remote public access to non-confidential reviewing court documents (Supreme Court and the five appellate courts) free for cases filed on or after April 1, 2025. The fee previously imposed under Supreme Court Rule 313(c) was suspended.5State of Illinois Office of the Illinois Courts. Supreme Court Approves Free Remote Public Access to Reviewing Court Documents Effective May 1, 2025 That access runs through re:SearchIL.
Judici: Criminal and Civil Records in 82 Counties
For criminal records, Judici is often the more useful platform. It’s a privately operated service rather than an official court system, but it hosts records for 82 participating Illinois courts and lets the public search any of them free of charge.6Judici. Judici Welcome Page You can see criminal charges, dispositions and sentences, hearing dates, case minutes, and documents.
This is the piece that comes closest to the criminal-side function CCAP performs so smoothly in Wisconsin. The catch is that Judici only covers its participating courts, not all 102 counties, and searching across multiple counties at once requires a paid subscription (marketed to attorneys and background check agencies as Courtlook and Multicourt). The site makes clear that it is not a court and that links to it don’t constitute a court endorsement.6Judici. Judici Welcome Page
County Clerk Portals: Often the Most Current Source
Even with re:SearchIL and Judici available, the most up-to-date information for a specific case often lives on the county circuit clerk’s own website. Each of the 102 counties runs an independent system, and what you see on the statewide platforms may lag behind what the local clerk has recorded.2Office of the Illinois Courts. Circuit Court Clerks Some county systems only show dated docket entries rather than actual filed documents.
Experience varies sharply by county. Cook County, which handles millions of entries a year, runs a separate portal that requires its own registration.7Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County. Online Case Information Lake County’s portal lets registered users access case information, download documents, pay fines, and submit proposed orders.8Lake County Clerk, IL. Online Portal Information Smaller rural counties may have bare-bones interfaces, or no online search at all, which means an in-person visit to the clerk’s office is the only option. If you don’t know which county handled the case, you may need to try several portals before you find it.
Statewide Criminal History Through the Illinois State Police
Court docket searches on re:SearchIL, Judici, or a county portal show individual case records. They don’t produce a full criminal history report the way a background check does. For that, Illinois sends you to a separate system entirely.
Under the Uniform Conviction Information Act (20 ILCS 2635), the Illinois State Police Bureau of Identification is required to make criminal history conviction information available to the public.9Illinois State Police. Background Checks The system handling these requests is called CHIRP (Criminal History Information Response Process). It returns only conviction records, not arrests that didn’t lead to a conviction, and runs name-based searches through the ISP website. Check the Bureau of Identification’s fee schedule for current pricing.
This is the sharpest break from Wisconsin’s CCAP. In Wisconsin, you can see a person’s full case history including pending charges by typing their name into one free search. In Illinois, pending charges appear only on individual county dockets, and a statewide conviction summary is a separate paid request through law enforcement.
What You Won’t Find in Any Illinois Court Search
Some records are kept off public portals regardless of which system you use. The Illinois Supreme Court’s Electronic Access Policy excludes several categories from remote access even when the underlying case is technically public:10Illinois Courts. Electronic Access Policy Circuit Court Records
- Sealed, impounded, or expunged records (inspection requests must be made in person at the clerk’s office and are governed by existing court rules and orders)
- Financial account numbers, PINs, and the first five digits of Social Security numbers
- Juror names, addresses, phone numbers, questionnaires, and voir dire transcripts in criminal cases
- Arrest warrants, at least until the named person has been arrested
- Juvenile records, which are classified as confidential under the Juvenile Court Act (705 ILCS 405)
Supreme Court Rule 138 also requires parties filing civil cases to redact personal identity information down to the last four digits before filing; when a full number is legally required, it goes on a separate confidential form that the clerk impounds.11Illinois Courts. Illinois Supreme Court Rule 138 – Personal Identity Information So even on documents you can pull online, sensitive numbers should already be stripped out.
Which System to Use
If you’re looking for a civil case and have a general sense of where it was filed, start with re:SearchIL after registering a free eFileIL account. If you’re looking for a criminal case and the county is one of the 82 participating courts, Judici is usually faster. For anything that feels incomplete, or for a county that doesn’t appear elsewhere, go directly to that county clerk’s portal (or office). And if what you actually need is a conviction history for a background check rather than a case lookup, skip the court portals entirely and file a CHIRP request with the Illinois State Police.