Press Release |
At the request of the Chicago Police Department (CPD) and the City of Chicago, the Circuit Court of Cook County has made extensive preparations to handle an increased number of court proceedings in the event of multiple arrests during the period surrounding the Democratic National Convention (DNC), which is being held in Chicago August 19-22, said Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans. In addition to staffing and equipping an additional, temporary court facility, several dozen judges have cleared their civil and criminal court calendars of all non-essential proceedings, so as to be available to supplement the court’s normal criminal court resources.
“We have been meeting for weeks with more than 50 people from county, city, state, and federal agencies to prepare for the possibility of multiple arrests. We want to make sure the police are able to focus on providing security and that the rights of arrested individuals are scrupulously respected,” Chief Judge Evans said. “We thank our fellow government officials and our court staff for their continued cooperation in this important endeavor.”
The Circuit Court anticipates that most cases will continue to be handled by judges currently presiding in the Pretrial and Criminal Divisions. However, in the event that the CPD alerts the court to a multiple arrest incident or incidents, the Circuit Court is prepared to use part of its former court facility on West Belmont Avenue to conduct hearings for arrested individuals who need to appear before a judge.
To handle these cases, this court facility will be open from 8:00 a.m. to midnight. Fifty-seven judges, in addition to those assigned to the Criminal or Pretrial Divisions, have been trained on the requirements of the Pretrial Fairness Act and will hear cases at the West Belmont Avenue facility or at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse, 2600 S. California Ave, if needed. If necessary, judges at the West Belmont Avenue facility will hear cases resulting from multiple arrests between August 11 and August 31.
If the number of arrestees exceeds the capacity of the West Belmont Avenue facilities, the overflow will be processed by the CPD at alternate CPD facilities, and the cases will be heard at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse.
In addition, the court has ordered that, with some exceptions, between August 12 and 30, officers of the Illinois State Police, Cook County Sheriff’s Office, Chicago Police Department and other municipal police departments who have been subpoenaed or otherwise notified to appear and give testimony at a court proceeding shall be excused from doing so until the officer's next regularly scheduled key date or such other date as determined by the judge presiding over the case.
Exceptions include cases pending dismissal under speedy trial requirements, cases arising out of incidents related to the DNC, and cases in which the officer’s department is not providing DNC security.
Persons who receive jury trial summonses to serve between August 12-30 will be on standby status, while the grand and special grand juries will be scheduled at the discretion of the presiding judge of the Criminal Division.
Jury trials in criminal cases pending at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse and scheduled to begin between August 12 and 30 will be held at the Third Municipal District Courthouse in Rolling Meadows if they cannot reasonably be scheduled at a later date.
Also, most employees at courthouse locations nearest the convention, including the 69 W. Washington St. administration building, the Daley Center, the Domestic Violence Courthouse at 555 W. Harrison St., and the Juvenile Center at 2245 W. Ogden Ave. will be operating remotely between August 19 and August 23. The Children’s Rooms in these locations will be closed. Remote Access Assistance will be available on a limited basis in these locations.
To prepare for multiple arrest incidents, the Chief Judge and members of his executive staff have met regularly with representatives from various government offices, including the Illinois Supreme Court, Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, Law Office of the Public Defender, Chicago Police Department, Cook County Sheriff’s Office, governor’s office, the Clerk of the Circuit Court, City of Chicago Corporation Counsel, Cook County Bureau of Asset Management, Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Secret Service.
Chief Judge Evans has entered two General Administrative Orders, 2024-11 and 2024-12, to address court-related issues regarding security for the Democratic National Convention.
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