Scott County district court has had six criminal jury trials this week.
And each of them has been going through the entire court process.
That's rare.
Most of the time a case doesn't make it to the trial phase.
A court administrator doesn't have the luxury of guessing how each case will work its way through the court system.
They have to assume that every case will take the maximum amount of time.
It's a puzzle, and courthouses in every district solve it, every day.
"It's an organized puzzle and as the day goes on everything falls into place, and the next day we start all over again," says Illinois' 14th Circuit Court administrator Victoria Bluedorn.
She's responsible for ensuring each courtroom in Rock Island, Henry, Mercer, and Whiteside Counties is ready to go every day. And that means balancing a lot of different pieces.
"We've got to make sure we've got a court room, a court reporter."
It's not an easy job. Felonies, misdemeanors, pre-trial hearings, all need scheduling. And flexibility is key. Because the cases just keep rolling in.
14th Circuit Chief Judge Jeff O'Connor says,"If we have x number come in on a Friday night, Saturday morning first appearance court, that will be driven by how many files have to be opened from last nights activity."
He says felony court cases march down specific timelines once a person is arrested. The court assumes they'll go all the way to trial. But they don't often do that.
"The potential is there, any given time, but the fact that they all do stack up and nobody pleads out probably more often than not that won't happen."
He says that's because cases typically find ways out of the system. That didn't happen in Scott County this week. It had all six criminal cases go through the jury trial process. Causing the courthouse to run slower. O'Connor says usually some cases clear out.
"The vast majority of first timers and low impact defenses, a plea will be found somewhere with probation or local jail time."
O'Connor says there are other things in motion that help prevent court cases from piling up.
Defense teams can ask for reasonable delays if they're not ready.
That can happen if they haven't been able to get witnesses lined up.
And often, just the idea of sitting in front of a jury will convince a defendant to make a plea deal.
