Walker v. McGuire

Summary

The Illinois Supreme Court considered whether a $50 residential mortgage foreclosure filing fee, including a 2% portion retained by circuit court clerks, violated the Illinois Constitution's prohibition on fee officers in the judicial system. The court held that circuit court clerks are nonjudicial officers and therefore do not fall within that prohibition, reversed the trial court's facial invalidation of the statute, and remanded for further proceedings.

Holdings

1. Circuit court clerks are not fee officers prohibited by article VI, section 14, because they are nonjudicial officers who perform clerical and administrative functions rather than adjudicative or quasi-judicial functions.
2. Section 15-1504.1 does not create an impermissible fee office under article VI, section 14, because the circuit court clerk is not a prohibited judicial fee officer.
3. The trial court properly limited its ruling to the version of section 15-1504.1 in effect when Walker filed his complaint; briefing the statutory amendments did not amend the complaint or place the amended statutes before the court.

Questions Presented

1. Whether circuit court clerks are fee officers within the meaning of article VI, section 14, of the Illinois Constitution.
2. Whether section 15-1504.1 of the Illinois Code of Civil Procedure is unconstitutional because it authorizes circuit court clerks to retain 2% of the foreclosure filing fee for administrative expenses.
3. Whether the trial court properly limited its constitutional ruling to the preamendment version of section 15-1504.1.
4. Whether the court should address Walker's alternative constitutional challenges to the foreclosure filing-fee statute and related Foreclosure Prevention Program.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded