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ABOUT ME

Hi, I'm Katherine

WHERE I COME FROM

Kathy McMillan-Keefe has lived in McHenry County her entire life, born in McHenry, attending Crystal Lake elementary schools, middle and high school in Harvard, and moving to Woodstock 32 years ago after marrying her husband Patrick Keefe. Pat has been with the Woodstock Fire/Rescue District as a Lieutenant/Paramedic for 35 years and together they have a grown daughter, Hailey. Kathy has a Bachelor's Degree in Finance from Northern Illinois University and a Master's Degree in Management from Webster University. Kathy was awarded the Turning Point Peace & Justice Award in 2011 and has served as a Republican Precinct Committeeman for 18 years. 

Katherine has been involved in numerous state-wide efforts to improve the Illinois court system including; appointment by the Illinois Supreme Court as a member of the Illinois Supreme Court Judicial Conference, developing a strategic agenda for the Illinois Judicial Branch; appointment by the Illinois Supreme Court to the Illinois Judicial College as a member of the Committee on Circuit Court Clerk Education; as a representative of the Illinois Association of Court Clerks on the Statutory Court Fee Task Force, serving as chairperson of the Criminal/Traffic Subcommittee, charged with making recommendations to the General Assembly to address barriers to access to justice and additional issues associated with fees and other court costs in Civil, Criminal and Traffic proceedings. Katherine also serves as the Secretary of the Northeast Illinois Circuit Clerk’s Association.

STATEWIDE INVOLVEMENT 

Leadership Through Innovation

Katherine has brought many innovations to the office during her time as Circuit Clerk. She implemented a new case management system in 2009, bringing innovation and efficiencies which allowed Circuit Clerk staffing to gradually reduce through attrition by 27%, currently saving McHenry County taxpayers $1.1 million annually. She has continued to expand an electronic citation program on a county-wide basis, implemented e-Guilty online payments for traffic tickets, online petitions for order of protection, electronic case transfer between counties and electronic transfer of appeals to the Appellate Court. Expanded the public viewing rooms in the Courthouse to include self-serve scanning stations for customers to be able to scan and file documents electronically. Currently the office files approximately 60,000 cases on an annual basis.

Office Innovations

  • Pushed to make McHenry County court records available online

  • One of the first Circuit Clerks in Illinois to move to electronic filing

  • Implemented Court Date Reminder Program with free text and/or email reminders of court dates

  • With cooperation from the Judiciary, eliminated court files from all courtrooms in 2019, drastically improving operating efficiency

  • Gradually eliminating paper files by electronically storing documents to then destroy the physical paper files, in turn reducing the need for costly space

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