Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County
County clerk of Cook County, Illinois
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County is the clerk of Circuit Court of Cook County, located in Cook County, Illinois. The office plays a critical role in maintaining court records and facilitating judicial operations for the nation's largest unified court system, handling millions of cases annually.[1]
| Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County | |
|---|---|
since December 4, 2024 | |
| Term length | 4 years |
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".[2] 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.[3] This ended in 1872, when the county's recorder of deeds was again created as a separate office.[3]
On January 1, 1964, the more than 200 courts of Cook County were unified.[4] 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.[4]
Pre-1964 officeholders
| Clerk | Term in office | Party | Notes | Cite | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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R. J. Hamilton | 1831–1841 | Democratic | [2][5] | |
| H.G. Hubbard | 1841–1843 | [2] | |||
| Samuel Hoard | 1843–____ | [2] | |||
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Norman T. Gassette | 1868–1872 | Republican | [6] | |
 |
Jacob Gross | 1872–1884 | Republican | [7][8] | |
| John E. Conroy | Democratic | [9] | |||
| Joseph P. McMahon | [10] | ||||
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.
| Clerk | Term in office | Party | Notes | Cite | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joseph B. McDonough | 1964–1968 | [4] | |||
| Matthew J. Danaher | December 1968–1974 | Democratic | Elected in 1968 and 1972 | [11] | |
| Morgan M. Finley | 1974–December 1988 | Democratic | Appointed in 1974; elected in 1976, 1980, 1984 | [12] | |
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Aurelia Pucinski | December 1988–December 1, 2000 | Democratic (1988–1998) Republican (1998–2000) |
Elected in 1988, 1992, 1996 | |
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Dorothy A. Brown | December 1, 2000–December 1, 2020 | Democratic | Elected in 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016 | |
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Iris Martinez | December 1, 2020–December 2024 | Democratic | Elected in 2020 | |
| Mariyana Spyropoulos | December 4, 2024–present | Democratic | Elected in 2024 | ||