I was at a civil wedding last week at the down town Chicago circuit court and noticed a few things that probably only I will notice. That Saturday there was a long line of couples who were about to tie the knot. The court was open from 9 am to 12 noon only. Each couple had to pay a $10 fee for a judge to say “by the power vested in me by the state of Illinois I now pronounce you husband and wife.”

The ceremony went by pretty quick, it only took less than 5 minutes including picture taking and all that jazz. So if you think about it,  so at  at $10 every 5 minutes… that is $120 an hour. And there were two judge chambers that day, so that court made $240 an hour for 3 hours (9 to 12) gives a revenue of $720 that day. That is more than what most people make in a week.

During the week days, they have this service from 9am – 5pm. That’s $1,920 per day. I think that’s pretty good revenue. Also, considering the fact that each couple had to pay $40 for the marriage license before they can get married. Now I’m wondering why the State of Illinois always has a budget problem.