PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Circuit Court to mark Black History Month with one week of courthouse tours

Released On 01/22/2010

Circuit Court of Cook County Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans announced the Black History Month Courthouse Tours of the Richard J. Daley Center, 50 West Washington Street, Chicago, will take place from Monday, February 22, through Friday, February 26, 2010. Co-sponsoring the tours are the Black Women Lawyers’ Association of Greater Chicago, Inc., the Cook County Bar Association, and the Illinois Judicial Council.

The tours offer the public a sense of day-to-day operations of one of the nation’s largest unified court systems. Tour highlights include a visit to a courtroom to observe a trial in progress, an informal presentation by a Circuit Court judge, and the opportunity to meet with bar association representatives.

Tour participants receive a copy of the court’s informational guide which outlines the structure of the Circuit Court of Cook County, explains the basics of trial proceedings and includes a directory of court and county services.

The Black History Month Courthouse Tours are part of the court’s year-round Community Heritage Month Courthouse Tour series which combines public education activities with national and local observances marking racial and ethnic diversity. Tours are also held during Women’s History Month, Arab-American Heritage Month, Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, Italian Heritage Month, Latino/Hispanic Heritage Month, Polish Heritage Month, and on Puerto Rican Heritage Day. The tours have been attended by thousands of Cook County residents.

Individuals or groups planning on attending the Black History Month Courthouse Tours should contact Melanie Wheeler, the court’s African American Community Liaison, at 312.603.3587 or the Circuit Court of Cook County’s Public Affairs Office at 312.603.1927 on or before Wednesday, February 17, 2010. The tours are recommended for persons age ten and older, with a maximum of 35 persons to a group. Reservations are recommended. The tours will depart at 10 a.m. from the Daley Center’s west lobby located on the Randolph and Clark Streets side of the building.