Jefferson County Court Docket Search
Jefferson County court docket records are kept by the 2nd Judicial Circuit Court Clerk in Mt. Vernon, Illinois, and cover civil, criminal, traffic, family, and probate cases for this southern Illinois county of about 36,000 people. Cases can be looked up online through free statewide tools, or you can visit the clerk's office at the courthouse on 10th Street in Mt. Vernon for in-person access to the full case file.
Jefferson County Quick Facts
Jefferson County Circuit Court Clerk
Randy Pollard, Jr. serves as the Jefferson County Circuit Court Clerk. The mailing address for the clerk is P.O. Box 1266, Mt. Vernon, IL 62864. The courthouse is at 100 S. 10th St, Mt. Vernon, IL 62864. You can call the office at 618-244-8008 or send a fax to 618-244-8029.
The clerk's office is the official keeper of all case records for the Jefferson County circuit court. That includes filings, orders, judgments, and hearing transcripts when they are part of the court file. If you need a certified copy of any document, this is the office to contact. Certified copies carry the court's seal and are the version you will need for legal transactions like proving a divorce was final or showing a judgment was satisfied.
| Clerk | Randy Pollard, Jr. |
|---|---|
| Mailing Address | P.O. Box 1266, Mt. Vernon, IL 62864 |
| Courthouse | 100 S. 10th St, Mt. Vernon, IL 62864 |
| Phone | 618-244-8008 |
| Fax | 618-244-8029 |
| Judicial Circuit | 2nd Judicial Circuit |
Jefferson County is part of the 2nd Judicial Circuit, one of 24 circuits that cover Illinois counties outside of Cook. The 2nd Circuit has its own local court rules governing filings and procedures. Anyone filing a case in Jefferson County should review those rules before submitting documents to the clerk.
Find Jefferson County Court Docket Records Online
The best free tool for searching Jefferson County court dockets is Judici.com, a third-party platform that provides public access to case information for 82 of Illinois' 102 counties at no cost. You can search by party name, case number, or date range and get results that show case events, scheduled hearings, and basic party details. No account is needed.
The re:SearchIL portal is another state-level tool worth knowing about. As of May 1, 2025, it provides free public access for reviewing documents filed in the Illinois Supreme Court and Appellate Courts. If a Jefferson County case was appealed, you may find appellate documents there. For trial-level circuit court records, Judici and the clerk's own office are your best bets.
Illinois court rules limit which case types can be accessed remotely. Records you will not find in online dockets include eviction cases, family matters, foreclosure filings, guardianship, probate, small claims, traffic cases, and orders of protection. Some of those types are public at the courthouse but simply cannot be accessed remotely under current state rules. Records that are never public anywhere include juvenile cases, adoptions, sealed and expunged files, and confidential documents.
The screenshot below was taken from the re:SearchIL document repository, the statewide portal for appellate and supreme court filings that may include cases originating in Jefferson County.
The re:SearchIL system opened free public document review access in May 2025 and covers the Illinois Supreme Court and all five Appellate Court districts.
Jefferson County Court Docket: Case Types
The Jefferson County circuit court takes a wide range of case types. Civil law cases handle contract disputes, property issues, and monetary claims. Chancery matters cover equity claims including mortgage foreclosures and injunctions. Domestic relations cases include divorce, legal separation, child custody, support orders, and orders of protection.
Probate cases deal with estates, wills, and guardianship. Criminal cases at the circuit level include felonies. Misdemeanors and petty offenses also go through circuit court. Traffic cases are filed there too, though the level of public online access for traffic records varies. If you are looking for a specific case type and are not sure how it is filed, the clerk's staff can point you to the right index.
For people filing their own cases without a lawyer, the Illinois Courts self-help page covers the basics of electronic filing and court procedures. Civil cases in Illinois must be filed electronically through the eFileIL system. There are 17 state-approved Electronic Filing Service Providers to choose from. Self-represented parties can file through any of them.
Requesting Copies of Jefferson County Records
You can request copies in person at the courthouse or by mail. For a mail request, write to the clerk at P.O. Box 1266, Mt. Vernon, IL 62864. Include the case number, the names of the parties, what you need, and a way for the clerk to reach you. Call 618-244-8008 first if you are not sure what information is required or how to pay.
The Illinois Legal Aid organization explains in plain terms how to get copies of court records in Illinois. Their guide notes that court records do not include arrests where no charges were filed. That matters if you are doing research on someone's case history. The circuit court record only shows cases that were actually filed and prosecuted, not every interaction with law enforcement.
The Illinois Courts circuit clerk directory is shown below, captured from illinoiscourts.gov. It lists all 102 county clerks, including Jefferson County, by judicial district and circuit.
The directory is the fastest way to confirm the right clerk's office, phone number, and mailing address for any county in the state.
What the Jefferson County Court Docket Shows
When you search the Jefferson County court docket, you get case summaries rather than full document text. A typical result shows the case number, the names of the parties, the type of case, the date it was filed, and a list of events with dates. You can see what happened in court on each date, but not the full text of filings or orders.
For the full case file, you need to visit the courthouse. The clerk's office at 100 S. 10th St in Mt. Vernon can pull files for inspection. Some older cases may be archived off-site. The clerk can tell you if a case is still on-site or has been moved to storage and how long retrieval takes. It is worth calling ahead rather than showing up and waiting.
One thing worth knowing: the judicial branch in Illinois is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act (5 ILCS 140). You cannot submit a FOIA request to get court records. The proper route is through the clerk's office directly. Most civil records are public. Exceptions are defined by statute or court order and are fairly narrow.
Cities in Jefferson County
Mt. Vernon is the county seat and largest city in Jefferson County, with a population of around 14,000. Other communities include Benton, Ina, Opdyke, and Waltonville. None of these cities meets the population threshold for individual pages on this site. Court filings for all communities in Jefferson County go through the circuit court clerk in Mt. Vernon.
Nearby Counties
Jefferson County borders several other Illinois counties, each with its own circuit court and clerk's office.