DeKalb County | Kane County | Kendall County

Sixteenth Judicial Circuit

The 16th Judicial Circuit is composed of three adjoining counties: Kane, Kendall, and DeKalb. Kane County, the largest of the three, houses the location of the Chief Judge's Office at the Kane County Judicial Center. The Kendall County Courthouse is in Yorkville, and Sycamore is the county seat of DeKalb County.
The 16th Judicial Circuit is included in the part of Illinois discovered by French explorers Marquette and Joliet in 1673, as they traveled north along the Illinois River. The land was later claimed for France by the explorer LaSalle, and was placed under the government of Louisiana in 1717.
The territory remained a French possession until after the French-Indian War, when it was ceded to the British by the Treaty of Paris in 1763. In 1778, George Rogers Clark captured Kaskaskia and Cahokia, on the southwestern border of Illinois, and claimed the land for the Commonwealth of Virginia. After the signing of the Articles of the Confederation, Virginia surrendered all claims of the territory to the federal government.
Thomas Jefferson wanted Illinois divided into three states, with this area in the State of Assenisipia. However, at the advice of James Monroe, who had deemed the entire Midwest, "worthless and uninhabitable," it was decided to give Illinois large boundaries.
In 1787, Congress established the Northwest Territory to provide for government of all land northwest of the Ohio River. In 1800, Illinois became part of the Indiana Territory, and in 1809, the Illinois Territory was established. Finally, in 1818, Illinois was admitted as the 21st state, with Kaskaskia as its capitol.

Page Modified 20 Apr 2007