Illinois leaves “no state oversight” list with new legislation

Pleading the Sixth: On August 15, 2025, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed the State Public Defender Act into law, creating the first-ever state commission and state office for trial-level services. This Act is the state’s response to 6AC’s 2021 report and a springboard from which Illinois can hopefully leap towards independence, oversight, and a fair system where justice is not controlled by geography.

With Governor J.B. Pritzker signing the State Public Defender Act (HB 3363) into law on August 15, 2025, Illinois is no longer one of three states without state oversight of trial-level public defense services. Although the Act continues to place the main responsibility for funding and administering services on counties and carves out Cook County and smaller, rural counties in important aspects, it has great potential to foster stronger state accountability and to provide much needed support to Illinois counties. 6AC congratulates Illinois state leaders for taking a step towards ensuring constitutional right to counsel services.

The starting point: a 102-county patchwork system with no state oversight

6AC published a report on Illinois in June 2021, revealing alarming details. The state has delegated almost the entirety of its constitutional right to counsel obligation to county boards and trial court judges, with no oversight and minimal funding from the state. As a result, attorneys in every county face strong political and judicial interference, and unqualified, overworked, and financially conflicted attorneys are left to provide services in many counties. 6AC’s report found that the right to counsel varies widely in delivery and quality across counties, and the state has no way to pinpoint and resolve any deficiencies.

Illinois takes a step towards reform

In response to the report’s publication, Illinois takes a step towards remedying these deficiencies with the State Public Defender Act. The Act creates the State Public Defender Commission to oversee services; and the Office of the State Public Defender to provide direct trial services, technical and financial support, develop standards, and evaluate and improve existing systems.

The Commission. The 11-member State Public Defender Commission, housed in the judicial branch, will be appointed by all three branches of the government: four by the governor, four by legislative leaders, and three by the Illinois Supreme Court. Members cannot have served as a judge, elected official, judicial officer, prosecutor, or law enforcement official in the two years before appointment. While the Supreme Court will appoint the first State Public Defender for a two-year term, the Commission will appoint all subsequent ones for six-year terms. Importantly, the State Public Defender can be fired only by the Commission for good cause.

The Commission will approve practice standards and operational budgets (prepared by the State Public Defender), including workload standards and sufficiency of trial resources. The Commission will develop performance metrics and collect data about public defense from other system stakeholders, including courts and county boards. Furthermore, it will provide oversight over the state’s Public Defender Fund by approving or denying the State Public Defender’s disbursement decisions (since fiscal year 2023, the state has allocated $10 million per year to the Fund, administered by the Illinois Supreme Court). Notably, the Act continues the current statutory mandate of carving out Cook County as the only county that cannot access money from this fund.

The Office of the State Public Defender. The State Public Defender will head the Office of the State Public Defender, which must assess local public defense needs across the state and may establish regional trial offices and private attorney panels to provide direct services to meet those needs. Further, the office will provide technical and financial support to counties by acting as a hub for resources and training, as well as disbursing funding from the Public Defender Fund.

The county chief public defenders. Finally, the state-level bodies will have a voice in the appointment and firing of the county chief public defenders. If a chief public defender vacancy occurs, a local nominating committee, co-chaired by the State Public Defender and the Chief Judge of the local Circuit Court, will recommend a chief, and the Commission will make the final appointment. The chief public defenders can only be removed for good cause after a hearing before the Commission. Currently, all chief public defender appointments and removals are made by local judges or county boards.

Significantly, it remains to be seen if this appointment provision, that is designed to help protect independence, will have impact on both the most and least populous corners of the state. On one end, the Act carves out Cook County from this new appointment process, making it the only county with a public defender office where the county board retains full control of the appointment and dismissal of the county’s chief public defender. On the other end, smaller rural counties with a population of less than 35,000 (about 2/3 of the counties) are not required to have a public defender office, so this protection may not apply to them.

What is next for Illinois?

The formation of the Commission begins on July 1, 2026, and the first responsibility of the Commission is to “identify the operational costs and funding sources for establishing the Office of the State Public Defender.” The rest of the Act, including the appointment of the first State Public Defender, goes into effect on January 1, 2027. Over the two years after the first State Public Defender is appointed, the State Public Defender must convene various committees, advisory boards, working groups, and surveys to lay out a budget, set standards, and begin collecting indigent defense data across the state.

We congratulate the state for taking a step towards ensuring constitutional services, as the new commission and office have much potential for improving public defense in Illinois.