Problem-Solving Courts

Judge Casey Costigan has served on the bench in McLean County since 2006, ascending to chief judge overseeing five Central Illinois counties since 2022. His seat is up for election in November, with a new chief judge to be announced later this year.

Justices Elizabeth Rochford and Mary K. O'Brien said they were impressed by the state's only problem-solving court addressing child welfare cases. Their stop in McLean County was part of Rochford's effort to visit all 25 judicial circuits in Illinois.

McLean County's three-year plan is the third of its kind, developed by an independent council of mental health stakeholders.

The Administrative Offices of the Illinois Courts recommended increasing the use of Assisted Outpatient Treatment across courts in the state. A recent federal grant will help McLean County get a head start.

Family Treatment Court is a problem-solving court aimed at helping families with substance use within the child welfare system.

McLean County courts hope to use data on juvenile offenders to reduce adult crime and punishment in central Illinois. The effort has two prongs — improving interventions for troubled children, and a potential specialty court for offenders aged 18 to 25.

McLean County has several new appointments in court services.Chief Judge of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Mark Fellheimer has named Michael Donovan the…

The first drug court began in 1989 in Miami, offering those with addiction issues an alternative route through—and hopefully out of—the criminal justice…