Court & Hearings

Fill out a Summons and file it with your Complaint or Petition at the circuit court clerk’s office in the county where your case is filed. You will need the names and addresses of everyone you are suing. Learn more about starting a lawsuit.

You can file the Summons at the same time you file your Complaint or Petition, or you can file it afterward. In most counties, you must file your forms electronically (e-file) unless you qualify for an exemption.

You can use the general civil Summons for most civil cases, such as cases about personal injury or property damage. But some cases use a different Summons. These include divorce, eviction, A court case brought by a landlord to get a tenant to move out small claims, and orders of protection. You can find these summons on the Illinois Courts website.

Note: If you are filing a case in Cook County and want to use a private process server, Someone other than a sheriff who serves a summons you must pay an extra $5 per party A person or business involved in a court case in a role like plaintiff, petitioner, defendant, respondent, or intervenor. when you file your documents. The e-filing Short for "electronic filing." You file court papers using a computer instead of handing them to the clerk in person. This is required in Illinois as of 1/1/18. system does not make this clear, so you need to find and select this fee option. If you do not, the circuit court clerk may reject your filing.

After you file your forms, the circuit court The lowest level of court in Illinois clerk will “issue” the Summons A notice to a defendant that a lawsuit against them was filed in a court and that the defendant has to show up in court . This means the clerk puts a court seal on the form. Once the Summons is issued, you can arrange to serve Giving court documents to someone the other party. A person or business involved in a court case in a role like plaintiff, petitioner, defendant, respondent, or intervenor. You do this by having the Summons and a copy of your Complaint A written statement to start a lawsuit that says what the defendant did or Petition (noun) A written request to a court (verb) To request from a court delivered to them. Each person or business you are suing must be served.

You cannot serve the papers yourself. It must be done by one of these:

• The sheriff A county officer who can serve people with summons. They can evict someone with a court order. in the county where the defendant The person or organization being sued in a lawsuit lives
  • This is the most common way to serve a summons.
  • If your fee waiver A document that lets someone file court papers for free or at a reduced cost. is approved, the fee for having the sheriff serve your summons should be covered.
• A licensed private process server
  • To find a professional process server, you can search online. The National Association of Professional Process Servers also has a directory.
  • Licensed private process servers are private businesses and charge a fee. Contact the specific business to ask about their service fees.
• An unlicensed process server
  • This could be anyone over the age of 18 who is not involved in the case.
  • You must get permission from the judge to use an unlicensed process server.

Give the sheriff or process server:

• At least one copy of the Summons
• One copy of the Complaint or Petition
• A blank Proof of Service of Summons form

You need one full set of these forms for each person or business being served. If you mail your documents to the sheriff, you can use the Letter to the Sheriff form. You can find all required forms on the Illinois Courts website.

In most cases, whoever serves the papers may do one of the following:

• Personally hand the Summons and Complaint or Petition to the defendant anywhere, or
• Go to the defendant’s home and give the Summons and Complaint or Petition to someone who lives there and is at least 13 years old. A copy must also be mailed to the defendant at that address.

Different service rules apply if you are serving a corporation, partnership, or government entity. In most cases, businesses must be served through a registered agent The person who receives notice of legal actions when a corporation is sued or officer. To find out if an Illinois business has a registered agent, look up the business on the Illinois Secretary of State’s website. Lawsuits against the government have special rules, and you may want to talk to a lawyer.

In some limited situations, the judge may allow special types of service, such as electronic service or service by publication. Notifying someone about a case by publishing a notice in a newspaper Learn more about these options down below.

After the sheriff A county officer who can serve people with summons. They can evict someone with a court order. or process server Someone other than a sheriff who serves a summons delivers your court papers, they will complete a Proof of Service of Summons. Some sheriffs or process servers may use their own version of this form, called a certificate of service or a sworn statement.

The sheriff or process server will either file the completed form with the circuit court clerk or return it to you. If it is returned to you, file it with the circuit court clerk as soon as possible.

If you do not receive a completed Proof of Service of Summons form, you can contact the circuit court clerk to ask whether it was filed and how to get a copy.

If the sheriff or process server was not able to serve Giving court documents to someone the other party, A person or business involved in a court case in a role like plaintiff, petitioner, defendant, respondent, or intervenor. find out why. You may need to fill out and file a new Summons A notice to a defendant that a lawsuit against them was filed in a court and that the defendant has to show up in court , called an “alias summons,” and try again. There may be an extra fee to issue an alias A name, such as a nickname, that is used by someone but is not their legal name summons.