PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Evans overwhelmingly re-elected to third term as Chief Judge

Released On 09/12/2007

Pursuant to secret ballots cast by 251 circuit judges eligible to vote, Circuit Court of Cook County Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans was re-elected by a landslide to his third consecutive term, yesterday, September 11, 2007. Evans, 64, was unopposed.

In a letter to the judges sent prior to the election, Chief Judge Evans hailed the Circuit Court as "a pillar of just government" and attributed its success to the legally sound and compassionate decisions that are rendered by its judges. Following the election, Chief Judge Evans said, "At this point of starting my third term, I see the Circuit Court at the beginning of a golden era, not unlike the Golden Age of Greece."

Chief Judge Evans continued, "It is my belief that the talented and capable judges who serve in Cook County will always respect our country’s democratic principles and always pursue a quest for fairness and justice in our courts. It is my hope that it may be said of the judges of the Circuit Court during this period that they used their sage wisdom and vast reservoir of legal knowledge to protect the rights of all who came before them, and that in performing their tasks, as it was said of the ancient Greeks, ‘Their brilliance rivaled the splendor of the midday sun.’"

Chief Judge Evans will serve a three-year term ending the first Monday of December 2010. He was first elected to the position of Chief Judge on September 12, 2001. Only the fourth person to serve as Chief Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County, he also is the first African American to serve in the position.

During the six-year period Evans has served as Chief Judge, the Circuit Court of Cook County has seen many innovative and compassionate additions, including such improvements as a new Domestic Violence Courthouse, a new Mental Health Court and expanded drug treatment courts. Evans has also overseen the expansion of Advocacy Rooms for children of litigants and implemented new help desks for self-represented litigants and housing court changes that have better informed the public about it’s rights before the courts. Other achievements include national recognition of highly effective alternatives to incarceration for delinquent minors and consistently administering budgets that hold the line and protect the public’s right to fair hearings.

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