Will County Circuit Clerk Pam McGuire received preliminary permission Tuesday to beef up her staff to handle the work that will accompany the addition of two courtrooms to the Will County courthouse.
The county finance committee gave approval to McGuire’s plan to hire five full-time clerks. Four clerks would be assigned to the courtrooms of John Cirricione and Charles Connor, two retired judges who were asked to temporarily return last month to handle the county’s growing caseload. A fifth clerk would join either the customer service desk or the traffic court section, McGuire said.
“She’s going to find the $15,000 to $20,000 this year to get her through the year,” finance chairman John Gerl (R-Joliet) said. “Then we’ll have to find additional money.”
Next year, the cost will be between $90,000 and $100,000, McGuire said. Clerks’ salaries start at $18,000.
She is already interviewing people, she said, in anticipation that the hiring plan will win approval at the Oct. 19 County Board meeting.
The Illinois Supreme Court issued an order last month asking Connor and Cirricione to return to the bench temporarily. Cirricione, who had retired in July, began hearing cases Monday. Connor is scheduled to return to the bench Oct. 16.