The United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois now allows attorneys to open civil cases online via our Case Management Electronic Case Filing (CMECF) System. If you are a registered attorney in our district with a valid user name and password for CMECF, you are able to open a civil case, file the case initiating document(s), and pay the filing fee with a credit card via Pay.gov.
Step-by-step instructions are available on this web site from the link below. If you have any questions, please call the Clerk's Office in your division during normal business hours of 8:00am to 5:00pm Monday through Friday, excluding holidays.
- Click here to access the Electronic Case Filing System for the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois (CMECF)
- Click here for illustrated step-by-step instructions on how to open a civil case and pay the filing fee with your credit card.(Revised 25 June 2014
- Civil Cover Sheet JS-44 -Fillable PDF
- Nature of Suit Changes (September 2011)
- Jurisdictional Map of the Central District of Illinois
- Application for Fee Refund