Fairness in McHenry County Courts

In thinking about a rumor of an unregistered translator/interpreter in McHenry County courts, I learned of a survey conducted in 2009 and found its results on the McHenry County website.

The May 27, 2009, transmittal letter from James D. (Dan) Wallis, Trial Court Administrator, 22nd Judicial Circuit, McHenry County, read,

"The Court Administration conducted a survey to ascertain how well the court is performing in the areas of access to the court and judicial fairness. The survey was conducted utilizing the National Center for State Courts Access and Fairness Courtool (sic) Measure. The survey was completed on two days, May 18th and May 19th of 2009.

"I would like to thank Mary Foley and Margaret Salinas for their assistance in the implementation of the survey.

"I am pleased to announce that the results of the survey were favorable. Much of the research bears that individuals appearing before the court what (sic) the opportunity to be heard and it is not about who “wins” or who “loses”. Overall, 83.4% of the respondents felt there is adequate access to the court and there are few barriers. There were several specific comments made by litigants who feel there are too many appearances necessary to move the case to disposition. 78.6% of the respondents felt they had been treated fairly by the court. While there is no national standard when it comes to measuring the access and fairness of a court, I believe, along with many of my colleagues, that an 80% favorable response is very good. We had a very good cross section of respondents. 51% of the respondents were here for jury duty. The remaining 49% were either a party to a case, an attorney, or other court resource user. In all there were 230 respondents to the survey.

"I have attached the findings for your review. I will also be putting them on the SharePoint sight (sic). If you have any questions about the findings, please do not hesitate to contact me. I will be sharing this information with the Law and Justice Committee at the June meeting."

Surveys were completed by 230 people over two days. Check out some of these interesting numbers:

The way my cases (sic) was handled was fair. 106
The judge listened to my side of the story before he or she made a decision. 99
The judge had the information necessary to make good decisions about my case. 100
I was treated the same as everyone else. 107
As I leave the courthouse, I know what to do next about my case. 102

Not every respondent to the survey was there for a trial. Glance through the charts and responses for more information. The findings can be viewed at www.co.mchenry.il.us/departments/courtadmin/Pages/SurveyAccessFairness.aspx