| Marriages
/ Adoptions
Courthouse Marriage Ceremonies
Marriage ceremonies are performed at the Will County
Courthouse Monday through Saturday, with the exception of Court
holidays. Appointments are not made for wedding ceremonies.
On Monday through Friday, ceremonies are performed from 11:00 to 11:45
AM and from 3:00 to 3:45 PM. On Saturday, ceremonies are performed
only at 9:00 AM, but wedding parties must be at the Courthouse to check
in at 8:30 AM. There are no wedding ceremonies performed on
Sunday.
A Will County Marriage License must be obtained at
least one day before a marriage ceremony may be performed. This
license may be acquired from the Will County Clerk's Office at the Will
County Office Building in downtown Joliet, or at either Will County
Clerk satellite location (Bolingbrook or Crete). For office hours
and locations, please call (815) 722-5515 for the Joliet office, (630)
759-1317 for the Bolingbrook office, or (708) 672-8279 for the Crete
office.
In order for a couple to obtain the license, each
person much bring a certified copy of his / her birth certificate, a
second form of identification with his / her name and date of birth,
and, if either person was previously married, a certified copy of the
Dissolution of Marriage or Death Certificate for the previous spouse.
The fee for the license is $23.00 and may be paid with cash or check,
but not with a credit card.
Once the one day waiting period has passed, a couple
may come to the Courthouse to be married by a Judge at the times listed
above. Having a witness present is not legally necessary but
couples are welcome to bring as many witnesses as they would like.
On regular business days, wedding parties must first report to the
Circuit Clerk's office on the 2nd floor, with marriage license in hand,
in order to be checked in. A $10 fee must be paid at that time
with cash, money order, or credit card but not with a personal check.
The party will then be directed to wait a few minutes until a Judge
becomes available to perform the ceremony. On Saturdays, wedding
parties must check in with Courthouse Security on the 1st floor, and the
$10 fee will be collected by a Clerk there. a Judge then performs
the ceremonies in the order that the parties have checked in.
Cameras and video recording equipment are normally not
allowed inside of the Courthouse, but there is an exception for wedding
parties only. Wedding parties may bring cameras into the
Courthouse, but they must inform Courthouse Security that they are part
of a wedding party. In order to take photos inside of the
Courtroom, a wedding party must have permission from the Judge that is
performing the wedding; however, taking pictures in the hallways is
strictly prohibited.
If a couple wished to be married outside of the
Courthouse, they can obtain their marriage license in Will County only
if the ceremony itself will take place in Will County. The
Administrative Office of the Chief Judge has the telephone numbers of
retired Judges who perform marriage ceremonies outside of the
Courthouse, and those numbers can be obtained by calling that office at
(815) 727-8540. All questions regarding scheduling and payments
should be addressed directly to those retired Judges available to
perform ceremonies.
Once a couple has been married in Will County, they
will need to contact the County Clerk's office (815) 740-4626 in order
to obtain a certified copy of the marriage license. The marriage
license will not automatically be sent to the couple.
Procedures for
Requesting Adoption Records
All requests must be put
in writing and personally hand-delivered to the Office of the Chief
Judge, 14 W. Jefferson Street, Room 441, Joliet, Illinois 60432. The
following information must be provided in your correspondence:
-
Name and date of birth
-
Reason for need of records
-
Case number or adopted parents names
-
Year of adoption or how many years should be searched
-
Your address and telephone number
- Due to the sensitive and confidential nature
of these records, proof of identification must be presented
at the time of request.
Upon receipt of the
written request, the Office of the Chief Judge will contact the Circuit
Clerk to obtain the court file. Because files can be located in
multiple locations, it may take several days to locate your file.
When the correct file is
located, the request will be considered by the Chief Judge. The
approval or denial of the request will be communicated to the individual
making the request via telephone or U.S. mail. A copy of the request
will be maintained in the court file.
Upon approval by the
Chief Judge, copies of records may be obtained from the Circuit Clerk.
Their charges are as follows:
Search fee $ 4.00
per year
Copies $ 2.00
(1 page), $ .50 (pages 2 – 20)
Certified copies $ 4.00 per
stamp
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