Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County

Last updated

Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County
since December 4, 2024
Term length 4 years

The Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County is the clerk of Circuit Court of Cook County, located in Cook County, Illinois.

Contents

Office description

The office was first established in 1831, the year that Cook County was created. In 1848, the office of Cook County recorder was merged into the office of clerk of the Circuit Court. The office was accordingly renamed as "clerk and recorder". [1] For decades thereafter, the office served not only as the Circuit Court's clerk, but also served as the ex-officio county recorder of deeds. [2] This ended in 1872, when the county's recorder of deeds was again created as a separate office. [2]

On January 1, 1964, the more than 200 courts of Cook County were unified. [3] Replacing the separate clerks that existed for different courts was a single popularly elected clerk of courts for newly merged Circuit Court of Cook County. [3]

Pre-1964 officeholders

State's AttorneyTerm in officePartyNotesCite
Richard J. Hamilton Ppld01 1079 full (1).jpg
R. J. Hamilton 1831–1841 Democratic [1] [4]
H.G. Hubbard1841–1843 [1]
Samuel Hoard 1843–____ [1]
Norman Theodore Gassette (1839-1891) 3x4.png
Norman T. Gassette 1868–1872 Republican [5]
Jacob Gross 1872–1884 Republican [6] [7]
John E. Conroy
Joseph P. McMahon [8]

Officeholders since 1964

The following individuals have held the office since the modern iteration of the Circuit Court of Cook County was established in 1964.

State's AttorneyTerm in officePartyNotesCite
Joseph B. McDonough 1964–1968 [3]
Matthew J. Danaher December 1968–1974 Democratic Elected in 1968 and 1972 [9]
Morgan M. Finley 1974–December 1988 Democratic Appointed in 1974; elected in 1976, 1980, 1984 [10]
AureliaPucinski1967 (3x4a).png
Aurelia Pucinski December 1988–December 1, 2000 Democratic (1988–1998)
Republican (1998–2000)		Elected in 1988, 1992, 1996
DorothyBrownCookCountyClerkofCircuitIllinois (a).jpg
Dorothy A. Brown December 1, 2000–December 1, 2020 Democratic Elected in 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016
Iris Martinez State Senator (1).jpg
Iris Martinez December 1, 2020–present Democratic Elected in 2020
Mariyana Spyropoulos December 4, 2024–present Democratic Elected in 2024

Recent election results

Clerk of the Circuit Court general elections
YearWinning candidatePartyVote (pct)OpponentPartyVote (pct)OpponentPartyVote (pct)OpponentPartyVote (pct)
1984 [11] Morgan M. Finley Democratic 1,260,257 (61.32%)Deborah L. Murphy Republican 794,882 (38.68%)
1988 [12] Aurelia Pucinski Democratic1,170,558 (59.38%) Edward R. Vrdolyak Republican800,783 (40.62%)
1992 [13] Aurelia PucinskiDemocratic1,349,837 (68.39%) Herbert T. Schumann, Jr. Republican486,185 (24.63%)Deloris "Dee" Jones Harold Washington Party 137,642 (6.97%)
1996 [14] Aurelia PucinskiDemocratic1,149,216 (70.37%)Sandra M. StavropoulosRepublican397,191 (24.32%)Philip MorrisHarold Washington Party64,204 (3.03%)Janet DennisJustice Party22,581 (1.38%)
2000 [15] [16] Dorothy A. Brown Democratic1,197,773 (72.94%)Nancy F. MynardRepublican444,336 (27.06%)
2004 [17] [18] Dorothy A. BrownDemocratic1,365,285 (74.06%)Judith A. KleidermanRepublican478,222 (25.94%)
2008 [19] [20] Dorothy A. BrownDemocratic1,315,731 (68.29%)Dianne S. ShapiroRepublican517,115 (26.84%)Paloma Andrade Green 93,906 (4.87%)
2012 [21] Dorothy A. BrownDemocratic1,291,499 (70.44%)Diane S. ShapiroRepublican541,973 (29.56%)
2016 [22] Dorothy A. BrownDemocratic1,345,696 (67.22%)Diane S. ShapiroRepublican656,232 (32.78%)
2020 [23] Iris Y. Martinez Democratic1,549,615 (73.03%)Barbara BellarRepublican572,169 (26.97%)
2024 Mariyana Spyropoulos DemocraticLupe AguirreRepublicanMichael MurphyLibertarian

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Officers of Cook County The Names of Officer-Holders from the Beginning" . Chicago Tribune. December 12, 1867. Retrieved February 5, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  2. 1 2 Andreas, Alfred Theodore (1885). "From 1857 until the fire of 1871". A. T. Andreas. p. 663. Retrieved December 26, 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 "Dorothy Brown Honors the Legacy of Past Clerks of the Circuit Court" (PDF). Office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County. August 5, 2005. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
  4. ↑ "Papers Of Abraham Lincoln". Papers of Abraham Lincoln. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
  5. ↑ Andreas, Alfred Theodore (1885). "From 1857 until the fire of 1871". A. T. Andreas. pp. 662–663. Retrieved December 26, 2020.
  6. ↑ 'Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Christian County,' vol. 1, Henry L. Fowkes-editor, Munsell Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois: 1918, Biographical Sketch of Jacob Gross, pg. 212
  7. ↑ 'Illinois State Treasurer 1885-87,' Obituary of Jacob Gross, Chicago Tribune, December 29, 1918
  8. ↑ "Illinois Blue Book, 1961-1962". State of Illinoius. 1961. p. 867. Retrieved February 14, 2025.
  9. ↑ "MATTHEW DANAHER, INDICTED DALEY AIDE (Published 1974)". The New York Times. December 16, 1974. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
  10. ↑ Gibson, Ray (July 20, 1986). "FINLEY STEERS PUBLIC INSURANCE BUSINESS TO FRIEND". chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved October 18, 2020.
  11. ↑ "OFFICIAL FINAL RESULTS GENERAL ELECTION COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 1984" (PDF). voterinfo.net. Cook County Clerk. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 3, 2008.
  12. ↑ "OFFICIAL FINAL RESULTS GENERAL ELECTION COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 1988" (PDF). voterinfo.net. Cook County Clerk. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 3, 2008.
  13. ↑ "OFFICIAL FINAL RESULTS GENERAL ELECTION COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 1992" (PDF). voterinfo.net. Cook County Clerk. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 10, 2008.
  14. ↑ "OFFICIAL FINAL RESULTS GENERAL ELECTION COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 1996" (PDF). voterinfo.net. Cook County Clerk. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 2, 2008.
  15. ↑ "SUBURBAN COOK COUNTY RESULTS". voterinfonet.com. Cook County Clerk. Archived from the original on March 1, 2005.
  16. ↑ "TABULATED STATEMENT OF THE RETURNS AND PROCLAMATION OF THE RESULTS OF THE CANVASS OF THE ELECTION RETURNS FOR THE GENERAL ELECTION HELD IN EACH OF THE PRECINCTS IN ALL THE WARDS IN THE CITY OF CHICAGO ON TUESDAY, NOVEMBER , 2000 A.D." (PDF). Chicago Board of Election Commissioners. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
  17. ↑ "FINAL RESULTS SUMMARY REPORT COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS GENERAL ELECTION TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2004" (PDF). Cook County Clerk's Office. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 23, 2020. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
  18. ↑ "TABULATED STATEMENT OF THE RETURNS AND PROCLAMATION OF THE RESULTS OF THE CANVASS OF THE ELECTION RETURNS FOR THE GENERAL ELECTION IN EACH OF THE PRECINCTS IN ALL THE WARDS IN THE CITY OF CHICAGO ON TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2004 A.D." (PDF). Chicago Board of Elections. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
  19. ↑ "Official General Election 11/4/2008 Summary Report Cook County Unofficial Results" (PDF). Cook County Clerk's Office. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 4, 2020. Retrieved March 16, 2020.
  20. ↑ "TABULATED STATEMENT OF THE RETURNS AND PROCLAMATION OF THE RESULTS OF THE CANVASS OF THE ELECTION RETURNS FOR THE GENERAL ELECTION IN EACH OF THE PRECINCTS IN ALL THE WARDS IN THE CITY OF CHICAGO ON TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2008 A.D." (PDF). Chicago Board of Elections. Retrieved March 16, 2020.
  21. ↑ "Cook County and the City of Chicago Combined Summary Report General Election November 6, 2012" (PDF). Retrieved March 16, 2020.
  22. ↑ "General Election Cook County and The City of Chicago Tuesday, November 8, 2016 Combined Summary" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 29, 2020. Retrieved March 15, 2020.
  23. ↑ "Cook County and The City of Chicago General Election November 3, 2020 Combined Summary" (PDF). Cook County Clerk. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 16, 2021. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
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