After 24 years leading the Cook County judiciary in a historical role as the first Black chief judge, Tim Evans has lost reelection to Judge Charles Beach after Circuit Court judges delivered a surprise victory to Beach.
At the Daley Center on Wednesday, judges voted to determine the next chief judge, with Beach leading during two rounds of voting, according to Judge Mary Marubio, presiding judge of the pretrial division.
Beach previously served in the pretrial division under Marubio before moving to the Law Division at the Daley Center. Judge Nichole Patton, also of the Law Division challenged Evans as well.
During the first round of voting, Beach led Evans 122 votes to 117, with Patton nabbing 14 votes, Marubio said.
Patton dropped out before judges undertook a second round of voting, after which Beach got 144 votes to Evans’ 109, with one spoiled ballot.
In a statement, the chief judge’s office confirmed the results and said Beach’s three-year term would start Dec. 1.
“Charlie is a fantastic leader,” Marubio said. “He’s not someone who is seeking to lead for the recognition but simply to make the process better, the system better.”
Evans, 82, was previously alderman of the city’s 4th Ward, an ally of the four mayors he served under, but especially Mayor Harold Washington. Evans became his floor leader and chair of the powerful Finance Committee. After Washington’s sudden death in 1987, Evans ran unsuccessfully to succeed him — both to finish Washington’s unexpired mayoral term and in the 1989 special election. He lost to Richard M. Daley.
He left the City Council in 1991, defeated for reelection by Toni Preckwinkle. A year later, he was elected as a judge on the county’s Circuit Court. He became presiding judge of the domestic relations division and later the law division.
He rose to succeed Chief Judge Donald O’Connell almost exactly 24 years ago, in 2001. O’Connell, the Tribune reported, was “instrumental in modernizing a court system rocked by the Operation Greylord federal corruption probe” involving judicial bribery and known for “his zealous guardianship of the court’s reputation.”
Evans was the first African-American to serve as chief judge, pledging to make the system more “user friendly” and was reelected seven more times. Along the way, according to the office of the chief judge, he has opened or expanded court operations dedicated to domestic violence, mental health, drug rehabilitation, and veterans support.
Beach will take over management of the office’s $366 million budget and nearly 3,100 strong workforce.
A former trial attorney with an expertise in DUI offenses, Beach was appointed to the bench eight years ago by the Illinois Supreme Court, serving as a supervising judge in the traffic division and as supervising judge of the pretrial division at 26th Street, according to his website.
He received his law degree from DePaul in 1996. Beach worked briefly as a public defender and as a law clerk to Appellate Court Justice Judith Koehler before starting his own firm in 2000. On his website, Beach listed his role developing procedures and protocols for the implementation of the Pretrial Fairness Act as a major accomplishment. He is past president of the Illinois Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
Beach is in the process of putting together transition teams, Marubio said, who also added that Patton “ran a really great campaign.”
“He’s going to be collaborative, energetic, innovative,” she said.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.