Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County
County clerk of Cook County, Illinois
The Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County is the clerk of Circuit Court of Cook County , located in Cook County , Illinois .
Office description
Richard Jones Hamilton, First Circuit Court Clerk of Cook County, 1831–1841
On January 1, 1964, the circuit courts of Cook County were unified.[ 1] Before this, there were more than 200 separate courts in Cook County.[ 1] In its unified form, it now had a single, popularly elected, clerk of court.[ 1]
Pre-1964 officeholders
Notable pre-1964 officeholders included Norman T. Gassette [ 2] and Jacob Gross .
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 Attorney
Term in office
Party
Notes
Cite
Joseph B. McDonough
1964–1968
[ 1]
Matthew J. Danaher
December 1968–1974
Democratic
Elected in 1968 and 1972
[ 3]
Morgan M. Finley
1974–December 1988
Democratic
Appointed in 1974; elected in 1976, 1980, 1984
[ 4]
Aurelia Pucinski
December 1988–December 1, 2000
Democratic (1988–1998)Republican (1998–2000)
Elected in 1988 , 1992 , 1996
Dorothy A. Brown
December 1, 2000–December 1, 2020
Democratic
Elected in 2000 , 2004 , 2008 , 2012 , 2016
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
Year
Winning candidate
Party
Vote (pct)
Opponent
Party
Vote (pct)
Opponent
Party
Vote (pct)
Opponent
Party
Vote (pct)
1984 [ 5]
Morgan M. Finley
Democratic
1,260,257 (61.32%)
Deborah L. Murphy
Republican
794,882 (38.68%)
1988 [ 6]
Aurelia Pucinski
Democratic
1,170,558 (59.38%)
Edward R. Vrdolyak
Republican
800,783 (40.62%)
1992 [ 7]
Aurelia Pucinski
Democratic
1,349,837 (68.39%)
Herbert T. Schumann, Jr.
Republican
486,185 (24.63%)
Deloris "Dee" Jones
Harold Washington Party
137,642 (6.97%)
1996 [ 8]
Aurelia Pucinski
Democratic
1,149,216 (70.37%)
Sandra M. Stavropoulos
Republican
397,191 (24.32%)
Philip Morris
Harold Washington Party
64,204 (3.03%)
Janet Dennis
Justice Party
22,581 (1.38%)
2000 [ 9] [ 10]
Dorothy A. Brown
Democratic
1,197,773 (72.94%)
Nancy F. Mynard
Republican
444,336 (27.06%)
2004 [ 11] [ 12]
Dorothy A. Brown
Democratic
1,365,285 (74.06%)
Judith A. Kleiderman
Republican
478,222 (25.94%)
2008 [ 13] [ 14]
Dorothy A. Brown
Democratic
1,315,731 (68.29%)
Dianne S. Shapiro
Republican
517,115 (26.84%)
Paloma Andrade
Green
93,906 (4.87%)
2012 [ 15]
Dorothy A. Brown
Democratic
1,291,499 (70.44%)
Diane S. Shapiro
Republican
541,973 (29.56%)
2016 [ 16]
Dorothy A. Brown
Democratic
1,345,696 (67.22%)
Diane S. Shapiro
Republican
656,232 (32.78%)
2020 [ 17]
Iris Y. Martinez
Democratic
1,549,615 (73.03%)
Barbara Bellar
Republican
572,169 (26.97%)
2024
Mariyana Spyropoulos
Democratic
Lupe Aguirre
Republican
Michael Murphy
Libertarian
References
^ a b c d "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 .
^ Andreas, Alfred Theodore (1885). "From 1857 until the fire of 1871" . A. T. Andreas. p. 663. Retrieved December 26, 2020 .
^ "MATTHEW DANAHER, INDICTED DALEY AIDE (Published 1974)" . The New York Times . December 16, 1974. Retrieved November 4, 2020 .
^ Gibson, Ray (July 20, 1986). "FINLEY STEERS PUBLIC INSURANCE BUSINESS TO FRIEND" . chicagotribune.com . Chicago Tribune. Retrieved October 18, 2020 .
^ "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.
^ "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.
^ "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.
^ "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.
^ "SUBURBAN COOK COUNTY RESULTS" . voterinfonet.com . Cook County Clerk. Archived from the original on March 1, 2005.
^ "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 .
^ "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 .
^ "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 .
^ "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 .
^ "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 .
^ "Cook County and the City of Chicago Combined Summary Report General Election November 6, 2012" (PDF) . Retrieved March 16, 2020 .
^ "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 .
^ "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 .