| 2025 Indigent Appellate Defense Statewide |
| Mission Statement |
The mission of the Office of the State Appellate Defender is to
provide each client with high-quality legal services through an
effective delivery system that ensures an agency staff dedicated to
the interests of their clients and the improvement of the criminal
justice system. |
| Program Goals and Objectives |
- To provide high-quality legal services to indigent clients.
|
| Source of Funds |
General Revenue Fund |
Statutory Authority |
725 ILCS 105/1 et seq. |
|
Fiscal Year 2026 Target/Projected |
Fiscal Year 2025 Actual |
Fiscal Year 2025 Target/Projected |
Fiscal Year 2024 Actual |
Fiscal Year 2023 Actual |
| Input Indicators |
| Total expenditures - all sources (in thousands) |
$ 37,207.0 |
$ 31,308.8 |
$ 39,709.9 |
$ 26,890.3 |
$ 23,850.7 |
| Total expenditures - state appropriated funds (in thousands) |
$ 37,207.0 |
$ 31,308.8 |
$ 39,709.9 |
$ 26,890.3 |
$ 23,850.7 |
| Average monthly full-time equivalents |
299.0 |
280.0 |
299.0 |
258.0 |
249.0 |
| Output Indicators |
| Indigent criminal
appeals cases the
agency was appointed
to undertake (a) |
N/A |
1,807 |
N/A |
2,032 |
1,888 |
| Illinois Appellate Court
and Supreme Court
briefs and petitions
filed (b) |
N/A |
3,354 |
N/A |
2,957 |
3,579 |
| Oral arguments
presented (c) |
N/A |
201.0 |
N/A |
209.0 |
260.0 |
| Outcome Indicators |
| Opinions and orders issued by the Illinois Appellate Court and
Supreme Court |
N/A |
1,815 |
N/A |
1,784 |
2,450 |
| Percentage of decisions in which agency clients were granted relief |
N/A |
21.00% |
N/A |
21.00% |
18.00% |
Footnotes
In its role statewide as an indigent defense counsel, the agency's major program and service obligation is to represent indigent clients in their appeals upon appointment by the Illinois Courts. The agency does not have control over the number of cases to which it is appointed. As used in this report, the term "brief" includes the appellant's brief, which is the initial pleading necessary in the Appellate Court's decision-making process. Also included are motions to dismiss, in which the client, after communications with the attorney, agrees to dismiss the appeal; "Anders" motions, in which the attorney finds no meritorious issues and files a motion to withdraw explaining in detail why there are no issues; summary motions disposing of the case, and cases from which the agency has moved to withdraw as counsel; reply and supplemental briefs; petitions for rehearing; petitions for leave to appeal; and briefs filed in the Illinois Supreme Court. It is the agency's practice to request oral argument in any case for which a brief is filed that would benefit from oral argument.
Public Accountability Report
