2010 News Archive

Circuit Court of Cook County Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans today announced that persons seeking appointment to the vacancy in the office of commissioner of the Cook County Board of Review from District Number 2 will need to submit a formal application to him to be considered for the position.

The Chief Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County is required by state law to fill Board of Review vacancies. Property Tax Code, 35 ILCS 200/5-5. The office became officially vacant when former Commissioner Joseph Berrios became Cook County Assessor on December 6, 2010.

Circuit Court of Cook County Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans today announced he is establishing the Circuit Court of Cook County Black Line Trial Call Study Committee and that he has asked Judge Lynn Egan, a veteran trial judge assigned to the Law Division and attorney Larry Rogers Sr., Power Rogers and Smith PC, to serve as the committees co-chairs.

The committee will conduct a thorough evaluation of the practices and policies of the Black Line Trial Call and make recommendations to the Chief Judge.

As he prepares to be sworn in for his fourth term as Chief Judge on Monday, Circuit Court of Cook County Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans today announced major changes in the Circuit Court that include the appointment of new Presiding Judges and Supervising Judges in almost half of the court's divisions and districts and the creation of a new division dedicated to elder law matters, the Elder Law and Miscellaneous Remedies Division.

Circuit Court of Cook County Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans and Domestic Violence Division Presiding Judge Grace G. Dickler announced that the Domestic Violence Division has begun its critical expansion from Chicago to the suburbs of Cook County with the addition of courtrooms in the two courthouses that serve the court's Fourth Municipal District and Fifth Municipal District.

Circuit Court of Cook County Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans announced the annual Arab-American Heritage Month Courthouse Tour of the Richard J. Daley Center, 50 West Washington Street, will take place on Wednesday, November 17, 2010. Co-sponsoring the tour is the Arab-American Bar Association of Illinois, Inc.

Circuit Court of Cook County Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans announced the Polish Heritage Month Courthouse Tour of the Richard J. Daley Center, 50 West Washington Street, will take place on Wednesday, October 27, 2010. Co-sponsoring the tour is the Advocates Society The Association of Polish-American Attorneys.

Circuit Court of Cook County Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans today announced his administration plans to expand the use of specialty courts to rehabilitate nonviolent offenders and that he has appointed retired Associate Judge Lawrence P. Fox to lead the effort.

Circuit Court of Cook County Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans today announced that he has asked a consortium of minority bar organizations to join the court’s In Court Lawyer Referral Program, a decades-old court-based program that provides low-cost legal representation to qualifying defendants.

Beginning in July 2011, the consortium will alternate on a monthly basis with the Chicago Bar Association in supplying attorneys at Circuit Court of Cook County court locations where the CBA is currently participating in the In Court Referral Program.

Circuit Court of Cook County Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans announced that two (2) branch courtrooms in the First Municipal District (Chicago) that are located in the Chicago Police Department’s Harrison District facility were temporarily closed today after the Chicago Fire Department evacuated the facility because of noxious fumes.

The Harrison District facility is located at 3151 West Harrison Street. Branch 43, which hears misdemeanors and ordinance violations, and Branch 44, which hears felony preliminary hearings, are located in the facility.

Circuit Court of Cook County Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans today announced that he will reassign four judges whose judicial conduct has been the subject of recent publicized reports and arrange for them to receive mentoring from experienced judges. He also announced he has appointed two new supervising judges to provide improved management and oversight of the Criminal Branch Courts of the First Municipal District (Chicago), where three of the four judges had been serving.