The Illinois Supreme Court is recognizing the work of trial court administrators across the state. The following features Twenty-Second Judicial Circuit Court Trial Court Administrator Dan Wallis and his thoughts on his career.
Tell us about your background and how it led to your role as a trial court administrator.
My journey was an interesting one that began in Ohio. I started my professional career working in law enforcement, corrections, and then as a probation officer. I worked as a probation officer for a couple of years, became the coordinator for our Drug Court program, and was then promoted to be the Director of Court Services. Six months later the Administrative Judge asked if I wanted to be the Court Administrator. I jumped at the opportunity, without even knowing what a court administrator did, or was. The court system that I was working in never had a court administrator and the position was still relatively new in the state. Thankfully, I partnered almost immediately with the Ohio Judicial College and the National Center for State Courts and became involved with the Institute for Court Management’s Certified Court Manager program. What was also interesting was that while I was the Court Administrator, I was also the Chief Adult and Juvenile Probation Officer. A rather unique combination.
What inspired you to pursue a career in the judicial branch?
I have spent most of my career in public service. I have worked in EMS, the fire service, law enforcement, and now the courts. Looking back, I think the common thread has always been pretty simple: I like helping people, and I like being in a position where I can make things better. What drew me to the judicial branch was the opportunity to do that in a different way. In EMS, fire, and law enforcement, you are often helping someone during an immediate crisis. In the courts, you still see people at some of the most difficult points in their lives, but you also have the opportunity to improve the system they are trying to navigate.
That is the part of court administration that I really enjoy. I like looking at how we do things and asking whether there is a better way. Can we make a process easier? Can we remove an unnecessary step? Can we give judges and employees tools? Can we make the courthouse a little less confusing or intimidating for the person who has never been there before? I want us to be the very best. At what? Simple – everything. For me, it really comes down to trying to leave things a little better than I found them.
How would you describe a typical day as a trial court administrator? What are your responsibilities?
What is a typical day? I am not sure there really is a typical day, and that is probably one of the things I enjoy most about the job. I may come into the office with a list of things I intend to accomplish, and within the first half hour that list can become completely irrelevant. Something happens in a courtroom, a judge needs assistance, we have a staffing issue, a facility problem comes up, there is a security concern, or somebody walks into my office with something that needs to be dealt with right now. You learn pretty quickly that flexibility is part of the job.
As trial court administrator, my responsibility is really to make sure the court has what it needs to function effectively every day. That covers a lot of territory. I work closely with the Chief Judge and the other judges on court operations, employment, budgeting, facilities, technology, security, personnel issues, and long-term planning. I also oversee a number of court programs and administrative functions and work regularly with the Circuit Clerk, State’s Attorney, Public Defender, Sheriff, Probation, County Administration, and many other justice and community partners.
There is also a lot of problem-solving involved. Sometimes those are big issues like space needs, budgets, new programs, technology, or changes in the law. Other times they are relatively small problems that still matter a great deal to the person experiencing them. Part of my job is figuring out which problems I can solve, which ones need somebody else at the table, and which ones require us to rethink the way we have always done something. It can be challenging.
I also spend a significant amount of time working with people. We have talented employees doing difficult work, and I think an important part of my responsibility is making sure they have the resources, support, and direction they need to be successful. I support them in every way that I can. I even offer to come out and help at the front counter when we are short-staffed. That really makes people nervous. Sometimes I think that the front office employees and the deputy court administrator would rather that I stay back in my office.
And then there is the public. It is easy in court administration to get caught up in budgets, statistics, policies, and procedures, but ultimately there is a person on the other end of almost everything we do. Most people do not come to the courthouse because everything in their life is going particularly well. They may be scared, frustrated, angry, confused, or simply unfamiliar with the process. I think we have an obligation to remember that. So, when I look at my responsibilities, I really see my role as keeping all those pieces moving in the same direction. Some days that means working on a major initiative that may take years to accomplish. Other days it means fixing a problem nobody knew existed when I walked through the door that morning.
What is the most challenging aspect of your job? What is the most rewarding?
I think the most challenging part of the job is that there is rarely a simple answer. Courts are complicated, loosely coupled organizations. You have judges, employees, elected officials, justice partners, attorneys, County Administration, and the public, and they do not always see an issue from the same perspective. Sometimes they have completely different priorities. My job is often to bring those different perspectives together, find some common ground, and figure out how we move forward. There is also a constant balance between what we would like to do and what we realistically can do. We have limited funding, limited space, limited staffing, and sometimes rules or procedures that simply do not move as