Timothy C. Evans (born June 1, 1943) is an American attorney, politician, former alderman and the current Chief Judge of the Cook County Circuit Court. Evans is noted as the first African-American Chief Judge of the Cook County Circuit Court.[1] A graduate of the John Marshall Law School in Chicago, Evans was first elected to the bench in 1992, and was selected by his fellow judges as Chief Judge in 2001.
Evans was elected alderman of the city's south side4th Ward in a November 27, 1973 special election[4] to fill the vacancy created six months earlier by the death of Ald. Claude Holman on June 1, 1973.[5] Evans defeated Hattie B. Kay Williams, a 50-year-old executive of the Girl Scouts and civil rights activist by a vote of 6,784 to 3,136.[6][7][8][9]
An ally of mayors Daley, Bilandic, and Byrne, Evans served as floor leader and Chicago City Council Finance Chair during Harold Washington's mayoral administration. Following Washington's death in 1987, Evans sought to fill Washington's unexpired term. The Chicago City Council voted to choose Alderman Eugene Sawyer to serve in the interim. Evans continued to serve as alderman.
In September 2001, Evans was elected as the first black Chief Judge of the Cook County Circuit Court succeeding Donald O'Connell.[1][14][15] For twenty-four years, Timothy C. Evans reigned quietly yet firmly over the courts of Cook County. First chosen by his peers in 2001, and re-elected on schedule ever since, Evans became the longest-serving Chief Judge in the county’s modern history. Under his steady hand, courts saw the establishment of a supportive infrastructure: specialized divisions for domestic violence and elder law, a newly created courthouse for battered survivors, reforms in pretrial fairness and electronic monitoring, efforts toward greater access and reform. But in September 2025, the judges of Cook County broke with cadence. Amid the dull but durable rhythm of uncontested or lightly contested reelections that had marked Evans’s tenure, two challengers—Judges Charles Beach and Nichole C. Patton—stepped forward. It was rare, during Evans’s reign, to see genuine opposition. On September 10, 2025, the court convened in the Richard J. Daley Center for their triennial secret ballot. After two rounds, Judge Charles Beach emerged victorious, defeating Evans by a tally of 144 to 109, with one spoiled ballot; Patton, who had been a second challenger, withdrew after the first round and threw her support behind Beach. Judge Beach’s term will begin December 1, 2025, for three years, thereby ending Evans’s unbroken stretch of eight terms in office. The Chief Judge oversees judicial assignments, manages a budget ($368 million, as of 2025), and manages more than 3,000 full-time employees (as of 2025, the third-largest workforce of any Cook County agency).[16]
During his tenure, the court reformed its pretrail system. It also implemented an end to cash bail, per the state's SAFE-T Act. During his tenure, the Chief Judge's office also assumed full responsibility for managing the county's electronic monitoring system.[17]
The Chief Judge of Cook County is chosen by a vote of fellow judges.[16] Terms are three years in length His first election in September 2001 was unanimous.[18] Evans has been elected to eight consecutive terms, and in September 2025 sought a ninth.[16] The 2025 vote saw Evans face two challengers, a rarity during Evans's years as Chief Judge. He was defeated, with Charles Beach being elected in 144 to 109. Beach will replace Evans as Chief Judge on December 1, 2025.[19][20]
During Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans’s tenure, the Office of the Chief Judge and its probation departments were the subject of several lawsuits alleging discrimination and unfair treatment of employees.
In Jordan et al. v. Chief Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County, a group of African-American juvenile probation officers, including Anthony Jordan, Theodis Chapman, Patrick Nelson, and Kenneth Greenlaw, alleged that they were subjected to racial discrimination and retaliation in disciplinary actions, transfers, and work assignments. They alleged that under his administration they had been subjected to discriminatory discipline, unfair transfers, and retaliation.
The lawsuit accused the Juvenile Probation Department of:
terminating or demoting individuals in a pattern that disadvantaged Black officers,
assigning transfers out of desirable programs (notably the “Jumpstart” program) in retaliation for discrimination complaints,
differential treatment in pay and training opportunities, and other adverse actions.
After motions for summary judgment (Evans defending in his official capacity), some claims were dismissed, others survived. For example, the court found that certain claims (like those of Nelson and Chapman regarding their transfers) had sufficient factual disputes to proceed.
While portions of the case were dismissed on summary judgment, some claims proceeded to trial. On appeal, the Seventh Circuit ultimately affirmed judgment for the Office of the Chief Judge, finding insufficient evidence to prove unlawful discrimination or retaliation.【law.justia.com†L1-L10】
In a lawsuit filed by Kimberly Flanagan:
Plaintiff Kimberly Flanagan, an African-American probation officer working in the Cook County Adult Probation Department (which operates under the Office of the Chief Judge), filed a lawsuit alleging discrimination and retaliation under Title VII and 42 U.S.C. § 1981.
In the initial complaint (filed August 2002), Flanagan alleged that she was denied promotions and assignments (including to a weapons-carrying unit) because of her race and sex.
She also alleged that, after the discrimination claims, she suffered retaliation: heightened scrutiny, harassment, disciplinary actions, removal of office privileges, forced additional training at her own expense, audits of her time records, and other adverse actions.
Flanagan won on her retaliation claim at trial in early 2007, with an award of about $205,000, later reduced (remitted) to $75,000, which she accepted. The discrimination claims (race and sex) were not successful (sex discrimination claims were dismissed by the jury; race discrimination claims dismissed earlier).
In 2023, Cook County approved a settlement of approximately $139,034.96 in the case of Loizon v. Evans et al. The case, filed against the Office of the Chief Judge, alleged employment discrimination. The settlement was authorized by the Cook County Board of Commissioners following litigation in both federal and state court (Case Nos. 18 C 2759; 22 CC 2801).【cook-county.legistar.com†L1-L9】 In Miller v. Office of the Chief Judge (Case No. 19 C 4216), Helen Miller brought an employment discrimination lawsuit against the office. In 2022, the Cook County Board approved a settlement totaling $1,268,247.20, including $768,247.20 to Miller and additional payments to her attorneys. The case represented one of the largest discrimination-related settlements involving the Chief Judge’s office.【cook-county.legistar.com†L1-L9】
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
