On Sept. 10, one of the most consequential local offices is up for election. This office determines many aspects of our public safety and oversees a multibillion-dollar court system. The leader of this office also administers one of the largest justice programs and supervises tens of thousands of defendants charged with crimes.
This is the Office of the Chief Judge of Cook County. The chief judge plays a principal role in the public safety of our communities, yet residents do not get a vote.
The position of chief judge, currently held by Timothy Evans, will instead be determined by an election held behind closed doors during a clandestine voting process in which fellow judges cast their secret ballots. Does that sound medieval? Welcome to Cook County.
For weeks leading up to the election, judges barter for their votes with candidates and make deals for which court system, division and courthouse they will be assigned to, and power players jockey for the supervisory placements, or presiding judge positions, by promising a bloc of loyal votes. This horse-trading process lacks any moral code or transparency.
To be clear, there are many wonderful judges in Cook County who lead with integrity and ensure the balance of justice and fairness in their courtrooms. Most would agree that this process contradicts the principles of most of the judges and that it is time for change.
Evans oversees one of the largest civil and criminal court systems in the country. The chief judge also leads the probation office, the juvenile courts and detention system, and the electronic monitoring program for Cook County.
Why is comprehensive court data not readily available in 2025? His office is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act. The independently elected Circuit Court clerk, whose office is also shielded from FOIA laws, must seek approval to share information about a taxpayer-funded system.
The lack of transparency only benefits Evans and his colleagues. For example, when the SAFE-T Act that Evans and county leaders supported made Illinois the first state in the nation to eliminate cash bail for felony charges, these policies were essentially “tested” on the general public. How nice to do so without any independent data or accountability?
As state and county leaders watched their new grand experiment play out, voters had their say at the ballot box and elected the extraordinary new State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke, who along with the superb superintendent of the Chicago Police Department, Larry Snelling, have restored the balance of fairness with justice for victims.
However, the state’s attorney and the superintendent alone cannot stop the violence. These stakeholders are not present in the civil court system, where women seek the court’s assistance and petition for orders of protection. Only the chief judge can fix the broken system that sees women and their children who seek protection continue to get murdered.
In Chicago this year, decreasing violent crime is now matching the national trend. While homicides are down, domestic violence is up. Clearly, Burke and Snelling need a true partner leading the civil courts, as well as the court system in its entirety.
Evans has blocked court transparency efforts, and lawsuits and tragedies have resulted. He has had the reins of a system that has blocked true reform efforts, which are accountability, the building of public trust and the implementation of effective programming to reduce future criminal activity.
His complacency has harmed our communities and led to businesses and residents fleeing Cook County. That increases taxes on every remaining resident.
Judges in Cook County need more than 60% of the vote in their elections to be retained. It’s time for the public to realize that they have the power to hold the judiciary accountable — and judges need to be.
Paul Vallas is an adviser for the Illinois Policy Institute. He ran against Brandon Johnson for Chicago mayor in 2023 and was previously budget director for the city and CEO of Chicago Public Schools.
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