News Archive

To limit the number of people traveling to and from court due to adverse weather conditions for our area, Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans announced that the Circuit Court of Cook County will be open but for videoconference and teleconference proceedings only on Tuesday, February 16. Please do not come to court facilities in person.

All court proceedings will be conducted by videoconference or teleconference. No in-person hearings will be held, so litigants should not come to court facilities. Traffic court proceedings also will be entirely held by videoconference or teleconference.

To limit the number of people traveling to and from court due to adverse weather conditions for our area, Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans announced today that the Circuit Court of Cook County will be open for videoconference and teleconference proceedings only on Tuesday, February 16. Please do not come to court facilities in person.

Cook County Circuit Court Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans expressed approval and support today for a newly-passed criminal justice bill that will eliminate cash bail, because it is consistent with the U.S. Constitution’s presumption of innocence before trial.  

“We have been supporting the end of money bail for a long time,” Judge Evans said. “Money was never a good gauge as to who should be released on pretrial. The law is that there is a presumption of innocence when someone is charged.” 

Cook County Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans today announced the appointments of three new acting presiding judges to head the Criminal, County and Traffic Divisions. 

Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans today posted a notice for ten vacancies for the office of associate judge of the Cook County Circuit Court.

Most courthouses in Cook County are now equipped with “Zoom Rooms,” with computers that allow litigants to safely monitor court proceedings, Circuit Court of Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans said on Friday.

Circuit Court of Cook County Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans today appointed Honorable Robert Balanoff to serve as the Acting Presiding Judge of the court’s Child Protection Division. The appointment is effective Monday, December 7.

Judge Balanoff became a circuit judge in 2004, after 22 years in private practice. He has served in Child Protection since 2005. 

Due to the surge in COVID-19 cases across the state, Chief Judge Timothy C.

Since 2017, more than a hundred other young North Lawndale men and women facing nonviolent felony or misdemeanor charges have encountered a wholly different brand of justice at the North Lawndale Restorative Justice Community Court, writes the Chicago Tribune editorial board. The Restorative Justice courts demonstrate the power of a second chance.

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A new Loyola University study finds that a bail reform order issued by Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans in 2017 has saved Cook County residents from having to post more than $31 million in bail in just one six-month period and kept hundreds out of jail, while not contributing to an increase in crime.