On a national level, there is a public conversation about the use of monetary bond in pretrial detention of defendants.
Locally, a Cook County Board resolution seeks to hold a hearing to explore the issue of alternatives to monetary bond.
I’m pleased that Cook County is joining the national conversation at this time. The Circuit Court of Cook County is currently in a transition period regarding pretrial detention in felony cases in Central Bond Court at the Leighton Criminal Court Building.
The Circuit Court of Cook County will start holding weekend and holiday hearings for detained juveniles, Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans announced today.
The Circuit Court previously followed the practice – in compliance with state law that other counties in the state have also followed – of holding the hearings only on weekdays. The new weekend and holiday hearings will begin on November 5, 2016 and be held at 11 a.m. at the Juvenile Center, 1100 S. Hamilton Ave.
As of Friday, August 26, 2016, Rhonda Crawford is no longer employed as a law clerk/staff attorney assigned to the Circuit Court of Cook County’s Markham courthouse.
On August 17, 2016, Crawford was suspended without pay by Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans following allegations that she adjudicated two cases from the bench in a Markham courtroom while wearing a judicial robe. On August 26, 2016, Chief Judge Evans terminated her employment.
Pursuant to action taken today by the Executive Committee of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Judge Valarie E. Turner has been temporarily reassigned to duties other than judicial duties in the office of the Presiding Judge of the First Municipal District, Judge E. Kenneth Wright, Jr. The assignment is effective until further notice.
People reporting for jury service at the Rolling Meadows courthouse in the Circuit Court of Cook County will now have Wi-Fi access while they wait to find out if they will be considered to serve as jurors for a trial, Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans announced today.
Prospective jurors already have Wi-Fi access in the Richard J. Daley Center, the Leighton Criminal Court Building and the courthouse in Markham.
The Circuit Court is working with the Cook County Bureau of Technology to bring Wi-Fi to the jury assembly rooms at the Skokie, Maywood and Bridgeview courthouses.
Circuit Court of Cook County Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans announced the court will celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month on Wednesday, May 18, 2016, with a tour of the Richard J. Daley Center Courthouse, 50 West Washington Street, Chicago, beginning at 10 a.m.
For the first time, the Circuit Court of Cook County will create a Restorative Justice Community Court that empowers victims and residents to play an active role in the rehabilitation of adult offenders who commit certain nonviolent crimes, under a pilot program Chief Cook County Circuit Judge Timothy C. Evans announced today.
Visitors to the Leighton Criminal Court Building will once again be able to store their cellphones in lockers starting on Monday.
Chief Cook County Circuit Judge Timothy C. Evans announced the news today after he requested a meeting and reached an afternoon agreement with the Cook County Sheriff’s Office and the Cook County Department of Facilities Management, which reports to the County Board President.
The Nominating Committee of the Circuit Court of Cook County today announced its selection of the 26 candidates who will seek appointment to 13 associate judge vacancies by vote of the circuit judges.
“The Nominating Committee worked diligently to ensure that any one of these 26 individuals will be an asset to the bench if ultimately elected by the circuit judges,” Chief Judge Evans said, adding that the process also examined applicants’ bar ratings, career achievements, and whether they could be fair and impartial adjudicators.
The Circuit Court of Cook County is alerting the public that effective April 2, 2016, the Cook County Department of Facilities Management will no longer provide storage lockers for the public to store banned items at courthouses. This includes the Leighton Criminal Court Building, at 26th Street and California Avenue, where smartphones have been banned for the past 3 years.
The Nominating Committee of the Cook County Circuit Court decided today to postpone the Associate Judge selection process until after the March 15 primary election.
The Nominating Committee took this action to avoid the potential appearance of impropriety because several applicants for Associate Judge are also running for Circuit Judge in the March primary.
While Circuit Judges are elected by the public, Associate Judges are appointed by the Circuit Judges.
Jonathan T. Swain will join the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners, under an appointment approved today by a majority of Circuit Judges of Cook County.
Chief Cook County Circuit Judge Timothy C. Evans submitted Swain as the nominee to the judges for the position after interviewing seven qualified applicants.
Seven applicants have qualified as candidates for the soon-to-be open seat on the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners, Chief Cook County Circuit Judge Timothy C. Evans announced today.
The qualified candidates are (in alphabetical order):
Statement by Chief Cook County Judge Timothy C. Evans in support of the Men of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated Chicago Chapter’s “Alpha Men Meet and Take Back 79th Street” Anti-Violence Rally on November 21, 2015
“I am pleased to support the members of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated for sponsoring the Peace March and Anti-Violence Rally to be held in Chicago on November 21, 2015, at 1 p.m. on 79th Street and Cottage Grove Avenue.
Court to follow same transparent process for another vacancy
William J. Kresse will join the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners, under an appointment approved today by a majority of Circuit Judges of Cook County.
Chief Cook County Circuit Judge Timothy C. Evans submitted Kresse as the nominee to the judges for the Republican position after interviewing eight qualified applicants.
A one-of-a-kind adoption proceeding will take place in a Cook County courtroom on Friday as a brother and sister become cousins when they are separately adopted by two adult sisters.
The 5-year-old boy and 8-year-old girl are two of the seven children whose adoptions will be finalized at 10 a.m. on Friday in Courtroom 1707 of the Richard J. Daley Center, 50 W. Washington St.
Parents and children will be available for interviews after the adoptions are finalized.
Eight Chicago residents have qualified as candidates for the open Republican seat on the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners, Chief Cook County Circuit Judge Timothy C. Evans announced today.
Under a state statute, the composition of the three-member board is to include one member from the state’s two leading political parties. Currently, the board must have one Democrat, one Republican and one member from any political party. The current opening is the Republican seat. The qualified candidates are (in alphabetical order):
In honor of Arab-American Heritage Month, the Circuit Court of Cook County will host tours of the Richard J. Daley Center on Wednesday, November 18, 2015, beginning at 10 a.m. Co-sponsoring the tour is the Arab-American Bar Association of Illinois, Inc.
For the first time, the Cook County Circuit Court will actively advertise for applicants for the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners, Chief Cook County Circuit Judge Timothy C. Evans announced today.
Also for the first time ever, the court will post every applicant’s submitted application form online at cookcountycourt.org.
Cook County Circuit Judge LeRoy K. Martin Jr. will be the next presiding judge of the Criminal Division of the Cook County Circuit Court.
Chief Cook County Circuit Judge Timothy C. Evans announced the appointment today, which takes effect immediately. Martin succeeds Paul P. Biebel Jr., who retired in July.
“For the last 13 years, I have observed Judge LeRoy Martin emerge as a rising star in the judiciary,” Chief Judge Evans said.
In honor of Latino Hispanic Heritage Month, the Circuit Court of Cook County will host two consecutive days of tours of the Richard J. Daley Center Courthouse on September 28 and September 29, 2015. The tours are co-sponsored by the Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois and the Puerto Rican Bar Association.
Grant is part of MacArthur’s $75 Million Safety and Justice Challenge, which supports innovation in local criminal justice systems
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation today announced that Cook County is one of 20 jurisdictions selected to receive a $150,000 planning grant to reduce the number of low level nonviolent offenders incarcerated in the Cook County Jail.
Circuit Court of Cook County Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans announced that, effective today, March 3, 2015, the bond calls in the Circuit Court of Cook County’s five suburban courthouses will be held as follows:
| Misdemeanors | 10 a.m. |
| Felonies | 1:30 p.m. |
The suburban courthouses are as follows:
To ensure the orderly transition of the administration of the Juvenile Temporary Detention Center from federal court oversight to the Office of the Chief Judge, Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans today announced that he has appointed the Circuit Court of Cook County Committee on the Transition of the Juvenile Temporary Detention Center (JTDC).
Chief Judge Evans has asked the committee members to assist the JTDC’s new superintendent, Leonard Dixon, and the federal court’s transitional administrator, Earl Dunlap, in the transfer of authority.
The Circuit Court of Cook County’s Executive Committee today ordered the reassignment of Judge Beatriz Santiago from her current assignment after the Judicial Inquiry Board (JIB) filed a complaint against her on February 6, 2015, with the Illinois Courts Commission.
Circuit Court of Cook County Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans announced today that he has accepted the recommendation of a court advisory committee and selected Leonard Dixon as superintendent of the Juvenile Temporary Detention Center (JTDC). Leonard Dixon, a nationally recognized expert in juvenile detention who most recently served as the executive director for the Wayne County Juvenile Detention Facility, Department of Children and Family Services in Detroit, Michigan, will start his new position as JTDC superintendent on February 9, 2015.
Illinois Supreme Court approves Extended Media Coverage in Circuit Court of Cook County
Circuit Court of Cook County Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans announced that the court’s Executive Committee today ordered the removal of Judge Gloria Chevere from her present assignment due to rulings she made which may have resulted in “possible threat of injury to the public and to the orderly administration of justice.”
To allow more time for preparation of pre-bond reports that assist judges in their bail-setting decisions, Central Bond Court at 26th and California will convene at a later time beginning in November, announced Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans. Pre-bond reports are objective assessments of the level of risk an alleged offender may present to public safety and whether the individual is likely to return to court for the next appearance.
Statement by Rose M. Golden, Director, Juvenile Probation and Court Services Department, Circuit Court of Cook County
