2023 News Archive

The Skokie Mental Health Court, which was featured in an award-winning documentary film, will graduate four participants on Thursday, December 14, at a special ceremony, according to Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans.

This will be the final graduation ceremony for the Mental Health Court’s presiding judge, the Hon. Lauren Edidin, who has presided over the court for 12 years and is retiring. The ceremony will be held at 2 p.m. in Room 201 at the Second Municipal District Courthouse, 5600 Old Orchard Road, in Skokie.

Nine participants in the (W)RAP drug court program will graduate on Thursday, November 30, at a special ceremony at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse, according to Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans.

The ceremony will be held at 2 p.m. in Courtroom 402, 2600 S. California Ave., in Chicago. The media is welcome to attend, and can also watch by Zoom (Meeting ID: 851 0615 4375, Passcode: 402402). All graduates will appear in person.

Eleven children, including two sets of siblings and two teenagers, will be joined to loving families on Friday at a National Adoption Day ceremony at the Daley Center courthouse, said Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans.

Participants in the Restorative Justice Community Court program are now getting help in finding housing through Heartland Human Care Services, according to Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans. 

Also, building on the success of these diversion courts, Chief Judge Evans has announced plans for a new Restorative Justice Community Court in southwest suburban Sauk Village, the first-ever in suburban Cook County.  

The Avondale and North Lawndale Restorative Justice Community Courts will graduate 64 participants this month, according to Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans. 

The Avondale and North Lawndale courts will graduate 16 and 48 participants, respectively. The Avondale ceremony will be held at 11:30 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 3, at Resurrection Hall of St. Hyacinth Basilica, 3636 West Wolfram St. in Chicago. The North Lawndale ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 9, at UCAN, 3605 W. Fillmore St. The public is welcome to attend. 

The Hon. Geary W. Kull has been named Acting Presiding Judge of the Fourth Municipal District of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans said.  

Judge Kull has been a judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County since 2009, and has served in the Fourth Municipal District, located in Maywood, since 2011. He was first appointed to the bench by the Illinois Supreme Court, and won election to the 9^th Subcircuit in 2010. 

Cook County’s Marriage Court will no longer limit the number of guests for in-person ceremonies, according to an order issued this week.

A previous limitation for in-person ceremonies, enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic, had been two guests plus the marrying couple. Starting next Tuesday, couples entering marriages or civil unions will have no limit on the number of individuals attending the ceremony, according to an order issued Wednesday by the Hon. Diann K. Marsalek, Presiding Judge of Marriage Court and of the Traffic Division. Also, masks are no longer required.

A new $2 million federal grant will boost two existing north suburban court programs that help adults diagnosed with substance use disorders. 

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration awarded the five-year grant to support program operations in north suburban drug treatment courts in the Second (Skokie) and Third (Rolling Meadows) Municipal Districts. 

Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans and Traffic Division Presiding Judge Diann K. Marsalek on Tuesday presented 200 backpacks filled with school supplies to Juvenile Temporary Detention Center residents. 

The backpacks, which contain notebooks, folders, pens, pencils, erasers, protractors and other items, had been filled with donations from more than 400 Cook County judges. 

The Hon. Maureen Ward Kirby has been named Acting Presiding Judge of the County Division of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans said.