Did you know about the self-help center in the DeKalb County Courthouse?

SYCAMORE – A program created and hosted by the DeKalb County Circuit Clerk in the DeKalb County Courthouse is helping people navigate the nuances of the Illinois justice system, and officials said it’s a free service for all.

The DeKalb County Courthouse Self Help Center is open to the public from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday on the first floor of the courthouse, 133 W. State St., Sycamore.

DeKalb County Circuit Clerk Lori Grubbs said the Circuit Clerk’s Office received grant funding in July 2021 to create the self help center. Almost two years in, Grubbs said she’s been pleasantly surprised by how frequently the Center is utilized by the public.

The space was used 604 times between November 2023 and the end of January 2024, Grubbs said.

“I’ll be honest, I expected good numbers,” she said. “I did not expect it to be that high. It just goes to show that the room is definitely needed.”

Between the COVID-19 pandemic and a lack of available space, the center initially was set up in the civil division of the Clerk’s Office on the second floor of the building.

That has since changed, and the Self Help Center has called its home the first floor since early July 2022. Members of the public or those looking for help finding, filing or accessing documentation relevant to criminal or civil court cases or other aspects of records are welcome to walk in to the room directly opposite the front lobby. The room is right before the hallway to the DeKalb County State’s Attorney’s Office.

“Whenever somebody needs to file appearances, motions into civil cases or if they’re trying to get an order of protection they can come here, and we help them file it.”

—  Nick DeMarco

Outfitted with computers, chairs and printers, anyone can use the courthouse’s online court database also to look up court cases and read records.

The Self Help Legal Center is a space where individuals can receive assistance in filing electronic documents, navigating the courthouse and directions to useful resources. Patrons can will not receive legal advise, however.

Anyone who uses the room is bound to meet Nick DeMarco, 23, a member of the Illinois Justice Corps – an AmeriCorps program – who has been given a one-year fellowship to man the center.

DeMarco said the room was created for self-representing litigants but is most often used to file electronic documents.

“Whenever somebody needs to file appearances, motions into civil cases, or if they’re trying to get an order of protection they can come here, and we help them file it,” DeMarco said.

The amount of people utilizing the space varies each day, but on average the space helps about 200 individuals a month, DeMarco said. He figures 1,400 people have used the service since he began his position in August 2023.

“I can give legal information, not legal advice,” DeMarco said. “Anything that would not help one side of the case more than the other I can provide. I can tell them what type of forms are available. I can give information about the courthouse, court dates, like what a motion would be used for, but I can’t tell them, ‘Oh, you should file a motion to get this.’”

Before DeMarco was brought on, Benji Meier worked in the space. As deputy clerk to Grubbs, he has a variety of other responsibilities and could only keep the Self Help Legal Center open for a half day, three days a week.

Meier said DeMarco’s presence has transformed his workload and allowed for greater public access to to the resource.

“Nick has been a big help, especially with us clerks having a dedicated person and space to send people to fill out paper work, to help e-file,” Meier said. “It’s a great resource to have. It really lightens the load.”

DeMarco’s tenure at the courthouse will end this summer, but he doesn’t plan on leaving the legal side of the criminal justice system. Come this fall he hopes to be enrolled in law school. He’s yet to decide where he’ll attend as admittance letters are still being mailed to him, he said.

That means there’s a chance DeMarco could one day offer legal advice, like the members of the DeKalb County Bar Association who come into the courthouse twice a month to offer free legal advice to those utilizing the Self Help Legal Center.

It also means Grubbs and Meier will lose man power, but Grubbs said they’re already working to find someone who will enable her office to keep the center open five days a week, like it operates now.

“We’re actually interviewing to get another Illinois Justice Corps [person] in there,” Grubbs said. “It has been fabulous having [DeMarco] in there.”