Cook County Circuit Court

The Cook Circuit Court system is considered the largest such system in the State of Illinois, both among the Illinois circuit courts as a general rule and specifically among those which are given over to the judicial system of a single county.

As such, the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County performs this task along with the 22 other Circuit Court clerks and overall judicial systems throughout the whole of the State. The Circuit Court of Cook County includes the City of Chicago in its legal jurisdiction.

The Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County as of 2010 was Dorothy Brown and can be referred to for queries or concerns over issues involved in the filing of documents. Other officials involved in the functioning of the Circuit Court of Cook County are the judges appointed to the position.

As with other circuit courts in the State of Illinois and in general throughout the country, the judges appointed to head Cook County Circuit Court settings can come either in the forms of Circuit Judges, or, alternately, of Associate Judges.

A Circuit Judge in the Cook County Circuit Court system can hold a six-year term, while an Associate Judge can hold a four-year term. An Associate Judge entered in the Cook County Circuit Court system can only decide on cases involving offenses punishable by more than a year-long jail sentence, having received approval to do so from the State Supreme Court.

In addition to the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County and the various Cook County Circuit Court judges, the Chief Judge possesses ultimate authority