Search Will County Clerk of the Circuit Court Records

About the Will County Clerk of the Circuit Court

The current Will County Clerk of the Circuit Court is Andrea Lynn Chasteen. The Circuit Clerk is a state constitutional officer elected by Will County voters to a four-year term. The seat is non-judicial but sits inside the Illinois judicial branch, which is why the Circuit Clerk reports to court rules and the Supreme Court of Illinois rather than to the County Executive. The formal name of the office is the Office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court, Will County.

The Circuit Clerk runs all front-line public services tied to a court case. Filing a new lawsuit, paying a traffic ticket, asking for a certified judgment, or requesting a document image from an old file all go through this office. Staff also keep the official record of what happens in each courtroom and maintain the financial accounts that hold money paid into court by litigants. The office operates out of the main Will County Courthouse in Joliet, with online tools that route to the same case-management database used by court staff.

Duties of the Will County Circuit Clerk

The Will County Circuit Clerk maintains the records of all traffic, civil, and criminal cases filed and heard in Will County. The office collects and disburses traffic fines, civil fees, and child support, records each document filed with the court, keeps the record of court proceedings, and receives and holds money to be disbursed by court order. Those duties sit on top of routine intake work: stamping new filings, assigning case numbers, issuing summonses, swearing in jurors, and pulling files for hearings.

Core duties of the Will County Clerk of the Circuit Court include the items below.

• Keep the official record for every traffic, civil, criminal, family, probate, and juvenile case in the Twelfth Judicial Circuit.
• Collect and disburse traffic fines, civil fees, and court-ordered child support.
• Record and index each document filed with the Will County Circuit Court.
• Maintain the verbatim record of court proceedings and orders entered by Will County judges.
• Receive, hold, and pay out money under court order, such as bond, restitution, and trust funds.
• Issue certified copies, exemplifications, and letters of office under the seal of the Clerk.

The Will County Circuit Clerk does not handle marriage licenses, civil union licenses, birth or death records, or county election records. Those are duties of the Will County Clerk, a separate elected office.

Will County Circuit Clerk Office Hours and Contact

The Will County Circuit Clerk works out of the main courthouse in downtown Joliet. The office is open weekdays only and closes for court holidays announced by the Twelfth Judicial Circuit. Counter staff handle in-person filings, fee payments, copy requests, and certified copies during posted hours. The TTY lines listed below are for callers who use teletype equipment.

Note: Court counter hours can shift for weather closures and judicial conferences, so call the office or check the Clerk's website before driving in.

How to Look Up Will County Court Cases

Public case lookup starts at the Will County Circuit Clerk's Public Access page. Users must read and agree to a disclaimer before the page hands off to iPublic, the case search front end for the Twelfth Judicial Circuit. The Clerk's office is clear that iPublic shows a limited version of the case data and is not the official court record. Document images do not show inside iPublic. For images, the public must use a public access terminal at the courthouse or order copies through i2File.

The current iPublic gateway is hosted at ipublic.il12th.org. The site asks for a verification code that is emailed to the user. Without the code, the live search fields are not visible. Public terminals at the main courthouse let walk-in users browse the case file directly during business hours, with help from Clerk staff if needed.

Plan around the Clerk's iPublic maintenance window. The system is offline Monday through Saturday from 11:50 p.m. CST to 3:00 a.m. CST the next morning, and on Sunday from 11:00 p.m. CST until 5:00 a.m. CST Monday. A docket pulled in those hours will fail to load, so set searches inside business hours when possible.

For an introduction to the search portal and what each field returns, see the Will County court records page.

Ordering Document Copies from the Will County Circuit Clerk

For document images of court filings, the Will County Circuit Clerk uses i2File. The Clerk's office links to the order process from its Order Copies of Case Documents page. The i2File platform is the same state-approved vendor used for electronic filing in Illinois courts. The Clerk says copies are uploaded to i2File in about two business days, and the requester gets an email notice when the file is ready to view, pay for, and save.

Steps for ordering a plain or full copy of a court document follow below.

1. Register an account at i2File. Confirm the email address used because all order notices are sent there.
2. Go to the Will County Circuit Clerk Order Copies page and click the link for the document request you need.
3. Submit the case number, party names, and the document or filing date being requested.
4. Wait about two business days. Clerk staff pull the file and upload the requested pages to i2File.
5. Pay the copy fee inside i2File once the upload is ready. The fee follows the Clerk's per-page schedule.
6. Print or save the copy from the i2File account.

The Will County Circuit Clerk's i2File order page is the main route most outside requesters use for copies.

The lead-in image below shows the order copies entry point on the Clerk's website. View it on the source page at the Order Copies of Case Documents portal.

The page routes users from the public access disclaimer to the i2File vendor and lists the steps needed before a copy can be released.

How to Request a Certified Copy

Certified copies are needed for tasks that demand proof the document came from the Will County Circuit Clerk. Common uses include name changes, real estate transactions, probate filings out of state, immigration matters, and judgment enforcement. A certified copy carries the seal of the Clerk and a signature from the office, which is what gives it legal weight outside of routine reference use.

1. Find the case number. Use the Will County Circuit Clerk's public iPublic case lookup or call the office to confirm.
2. Submit a copy request through i2File or visit the Court Services first-floor window at the Will County Courthouse. State that a certified copy is needed.
3. Pay the per-page copy fee plus the $6.00 certification fee for the seal of office. Extra certified copies of a judgment after the first carry a $10.00 fee.
4. Pick up the certified copy at the counter, or print and save it from i2File once the Clerk uploads the certified scan.

Note: Plain copies do not carry the seal and are not accepted in court hearings or for most agency filings; ask for a certified copy any time legal weight is needed.

Will County Circuit Clerk Fee Schedule

Copy fees, certification fees, and basic filing fees are set by the Will County Circuit Clerk's published schedule. The table below pulls the common items used by the public. The Clerk's full schedule covers many other case-type filing costs that change over time, so confirm any large filing fee with the Clerk's office before paying.

The expungement amounts shown reflect the Will County Circuit Clerk simplified schedule dated 10/10/2025. Part of an expungement order fee can be refundable subject to a court ruling. For probate fees, the figure above appears in an older simplified schedule snippet and should be confirmed against the Clerk's current schedule before any filing.

Online Payments and Accepted Methods

The Will County Circuit Clerk takes online payments through two state-hosted portals. iGuilty handles traffic plea and payment for routine citations issued in the Twelfth Judicial Circuit. iPay takes payments toward judge-ordered balances such as fines, court costs, and probation fees.

The lead-in image below shows the iPay portal landing page used by Will County defendants. View it on the source at ipay.il12th.org.

The iPay screen carries the warning that personal checks are not accepted and that the user must enter the case number tied to the judge's order to apply the payment to the correct file.

Payment method rules from the Will County Clerk of the Circuit Court include the points below.

• Personal checks are not accepted at the counter or online.
• Cash, credit cards, money orders, cashier's checks, and certified checks are accepted.
• Money orders and certified checks must be payable to "Clerk of the Circuit Court."
• Payment plans require approval by a Will County judge and are not set by the Clerk's office alone.
• Delinquent balances pick up a 15% penalty after 90 days under 705 ILCS 105/27.2(gg).
• Unpaid balances may be sent to collections after 90 days and carry a 30% collection fee on top of the original amount.

Setting up a payment plan needs court approval and runs through the assigned courtroom, not the counter, so plan ahead before the 90-day window passes.

E-Filing in Will County (eFileIL)

Electronic filing in civil cases is mandatory in Illinois. The Will County Circuit Clerk uses the statewide eFileIL system run by the Illinois Supreme Court. Users register and file at efile.illinoiscourts.gov. The same login covers every Illinois county that accepts e-filing, which is now the full state. Civil pleadings, motions, family petitions, probate filings, and most post-judgment papers go through eFileIL.

State-approved forms are accepted in every Illinois court, including Will County. Common standardized forms cover small claims, eviction, name change, expungement, parentage, and dissolution. Self-represented filers should pick the standardized form set when one exists for the case type, because Will County clerks and judges are trained on the state forms first.

The lead-in image below shows the Twelfth Judicial Circuit local court rules page, which lists the local rule set that controls e-filed cases in Will County. View it on the source at the Local Court Rules page.

The local court rules page sits beside the Circuit Clerk's e-filing entry points and is the right starting point for any filer who is new to Will County practice.

Will County Court Schedules and Records Request Field Inventory

The Will County Circuit Clerk publishes public court schedules and municipal court schedules in PDF form on the Court Schedules page. The schedule page notes that case participants are responsible for knowing when they must appear, so a missed date is on the litigant even if the schedule changes between checks.

The table below maps the field and control set found inside the Will County Circuit Clerk public access path. The set is short because iPublic itself sits behind a verification code and the live search fields do not load until the code is entered.

For a deeper view of search fields and sample case records once a user is past the verification step, see the Will County court records walkthrough.

Cross-Reference to the Will County Clerk

Will County has two clerk offices that look similar by name but do very different work. The Circuit Clerk profiled on this page handles court case files. The Will County Clerk is a separate elected office under County Clerk Annette Parker. The County Clerk handles vital records such as birth and death certificates, marriage and civil union licenses, elections, tax extension records, and FOIA requests for county administrative records.

If the need is a court case file, traffic citation, probate file, divorce file, or any other court record, use the Circuit Clerk. If the need is a marriage license, a death certificate, a voter record, or a county-level FOIA, use the County Clerk. For a side-by-side view of what each office handles, see the court records and probate records pages, the traffic court records page, or the FAQ for common questions about which office is right for which task.