News Room

On Jan. 9, 2024, the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts (AOIC), the agency with oversight over state courts and detention centers, announced that the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center (JTDC) has met or exceeded all state requirements for juvenile safety and well-being. 

Due to the extremely cold weather predicted for Tuesday, January 16 that may adversely impact the health and safety of court personnel and litigants, the Circuit Court of Cook County is encouraging participants to attend court remotely, if possible, said Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans.

Due to a weather-related power outage which has closed the Fifth Municipal District courthouse in Bridgeview on Friday, all Fifth District misdemeanor, civil, traffic, and felony cases will receive other dates, said Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans and Fifth Municipal District Presiding Judge Kerry M. Kennedy.

For misdemeanor and traffic cases, the Circuit Court Clerk will notify defendants of their next court dates, said Judge Kennedy.

All civil cases will be continued until Tuesday, Jan. 16, unless already continued.

Due to predictions of significant snowfall on Friday, particularly in northwest suburban Cook County, all defendants and witnesses who have hearings in the Third Municipal District can use video conference (Zoom) to attend proceedings, rather than coming to the Rolling Meadows courthouse in person, said Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans and Third Municipal District Presiding Judge Jill Cerone-Marisie.

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.

On June 29, Cook County Circuit Court Judge Charles Burns received a national honor as he was inducted into the Stanley Goldstein Treatment Court Hall of Fame during a special ceremony at RISE23, the world’s preeminent conference on addiction, mental health, and justice reform.

Named for the nation’s first drug court judge, the Stanley Goldstein Treatment Court Hall of Fame is the highest honor bestowed by All Rise, the leading training, membership, and advocacy organization for treatment courts. Judge Burns was inducted by outgoing board chair Judge Karen Freeman-Wilson (ret.).

The Circuit Court of Cook County announced today that, effective July 17, 2023, court proceedings will no longer be livestreamed. 

This court has been made aware of allegations against the Hon. William H. Hooks which, if true, would violate the Illinois Code of Judicial Conduct.

Following a June 29 meeting of the Circuit Court of Cook County Executive Committee, I issued an order, pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 56, assigning Judge Hooks to restricted duties or duties other than judicial duties in the office of the First Municipal District Presiding Judge E. Kenneth Wright, Jr., subject to further order of the court.

The Hon. Donna L. Cooper has been named Acting Presiding Judge of the Juvenile Justice Division of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans said. 

A retired colonel with the Illinois Army National Guard, Judge Cooper has been a judge in the Juvenile Justice Division since April of 2009. She has presided over the Juvenile Justice Division of the Sixth Municipal District in Markham since July of 2011, and also has led the Englewood Restorative Justice Community Court since its opening in August 2020. 

Circuit Court of Cook County Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans announced on Friday that enriched evening programming for Juvenile Temporary Detention Center (JTDC) residents will begin on Monday, April 17.

Circuit Court of Cook County Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans and the court’s Nominating Committee today announced the names of the 44 candidates who will be on the ballot for circuit judges to vote to fill 22 associate judge vacancies. 

The Hon. Mary C. Marubio has been named Acting Presiding Judge of the Pretrial Division of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans said. 

Judge Marubio has been a judge in the Pretrial Division since its creation in 2017, and has been a supervising judge since November 2021. Appointed an associate judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County in 2016, she was initially assigned to the First Municipal and then the Domestic Relations Divisions. She was elected a circuit judge in 2020. 

Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans has proposed creating a central state registry for the filing of wills, to guard against the loss of original documents and expensive litigation for families. 

The Maywood Courthouse will be open on Friday, Jan. 6, following repairs to a broken water main, Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans announced. 

The Courthouse was closed on Thursday to repair the break. Litigants whose court dates were rescheduled are advised to contact their attorneys and/or the Clerk of the Circuit Court here for the new date.  

The Hon. Stuart F. Lubin has been appointed interim acting presiding judge of the Juvenile Justice Division as of January 2, Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans announced.

Judge Lubin fills the role left by the recent retirement of the Hon. Michael P. Toomin, Judge Evans said.

Judge Evans said he is interviewing candidates for the Juvenile Justice position, and that Judge Lubin will serve until the interview process is completed.

The Maywood Courthouse will be closed on Thursday due to a water main break, Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans announced.

Crews are working to repair the break at the Fourth Municipal District Courthouse at 1500 Maybrook Drive in Maywood. Cases that were scheduled to be handled remotely, by Zoom, will still be heard. Bond court also will be heard remotely. However, criminal cases which were expected to be handled in person will be rescheduled for a later date.

Due to predictions of significant snowfall, high winds causing blizzard – like conditions, and extremely low temperatures and wind chills in Cook County, Chief Judge Timothy C.

Due to the replacement of existing ComEd power supply equipment serving the Leighton Criminal Courthouse, the courthouse will be closed all day this weekend, on Saturday and Sunday, November 19 and 20. The administration building will be open during this period. 

New, lower court fees for adoption cases in Cook County will make it easier for families to adopt children and give them permanent homes, announced Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans on Tuesday. The new fees were implemented in time for National Adoption Day, Saturday, November 19.

The Avondale Restorative Justice Community Court will hold its first in-person graduation ceremony in its two-year history on Friday, November 18, at 1 p.m., according to Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans.

The ceremony will be held at Resurrection Hall at St. Hyacinth’s Basilica, 3657 W. George St. Featured speakers will include Judge Evans and the Hon. Beatriz Santiago, the presiding judge of the court. Seventeen graduates will be honored.

Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans announced today a number of improvements that are ongoing at the Juvenile Temporary Detention Center (JTDC). 

These changes are being implemented by an Implementation Committee chaired by Bryan Samuels, Executive Director of Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago.  

The JTDC has completed Northwestern University’s Trauma Informed Juvenile Court Self-Assessment, produced by the National Child Traumatic Stress Network.