SPRINGFIELD — The panel that investigates alleged judicial misconduct in the state court system is long on complaints and short on members.

That’s according to findings by the Illinois auditor general’s office that show the Judicial Inquiry Board has received more complaints over the years, from about 430 per year about 15 years ago to about 530 per year in fiscal years 2012 and 2013.

Additionally, the nine-member board hasn’t been at full strength since 2006 — short its required non-lawyer appointees — making it difficult to proceed on decisions to either dismiss allegations or prosecute them in the Illinois Courts Commission.

One seat had been vacant for more than two years by the time the audit was concluded at the end of fiscal year 2014. The other had been vacant nearly four years.

Auditor General Bill Holland’s staff noted the board couldn’t provide a category breakdown of the 311 allegations it still had pending at the end of fiscal year 2014. That’s because the board’s staff hadn’t been able to analyze them and the board itself hadn’t made decisions on how to proceed.

Although there’s no deadline on the board’s decision-making for allegations, “the growing inventory level increases the risk the [b]oard’s caseload will become unmanageable,” the report says.

Board officials told the auditor’s office that the overall increase is largely due to a higher volume of complaints from incarcerated offenders. Complaints are also taking longer to process because there is more paperwork being sent along with them.

In the report, released last week, the board acknowledged Holland’s recommendation to “seek sufficient resources” to process complaints. But it also pointed out that its budget is in the hands of legislators and the governor.

Gov. Bruce Rauner recently appointed Raymond McGury, who previously served on the panel from 2005 to 2009, to fill one of the vacancies. A spokeswoman for the governor said he plans to fill the other vacancy soon.

Under Article 6, Section 15 of the state constitution, the board has “authority to conduct investigations, receive or initiate complaints concerning a [j]udge or [a]ssociate [j]udge, and file complaints with the [c]ourts [c]ommission.”

The constitution says the inquiry panel should consist of two circuit court judges appointed by the Illinois Supreme Court, and three lawyers and four non-lawyers appointed by the governor.

But Kathy D. Twine, executive director and general counsel for the Judicial Inquiry Board, said the board hasn’t had all nine members since 2006.

“That’s been a problem with not only our agency, but quite a few agencies in the past,” she said.

The board through the years made overtures to the governor’s office about filling the vacancies, the report notes. And Twine said the board has asked lawmakers for a bump in funding — from about $680,000 in the current fiscal year to about $690,000 for the fiscal year that begins July 1.

“There’s nothing more that we can do,” she said.

JIB proceedings are kept confidential until a complaint is filed with the commission.

But a breakdown in the report on the types of complaints received by the board in 2012 and 2013 showed that about one in three deals with parties who were dissatisfied with the outcomes of their cases. Some alleged bias, constitutional violations or rude or intimidating behavior. A few were related to inappropriate political fundraising, alcohol, drugs or harassment.

Twine said the board doesn’t necessarily handle the complaints in the order it receives them.

“Everybody’s complaint is serious, but there is a method to determine which complaints may require attention earlier than other complaints,” she said.

Holland’s report also notes that the board failed to file paperwork with the comptroller’s office about a lease agreement for a photocopy machine.

State accounting rules require the agency to file documents to the comptroller when it leases property valued at more than $5,000. Board officials said they didn’t know the market value of the machine when they entered into a 36-month lease for the copier for about $25,000.

“The auditors, however, were able to conduct an [I]nternet search for the [b]oard’s photocopier and found it, brand new, was available for sale with a fair market value of $9,354,” the report says.