Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans loses bid for another term
After 24 years as chief judge of the Cook County Circuit Court, Judge Timothy Evans lost his bid for a new term this week.
Circuit court judges voted Wednesday to elect Judge Charles Beach as the new chief judge overseeing the Cook County court system. The vote was 144 to 109, with one "spoiled" ballot, according to the chief judge's office.
Evans' run as chief judge was the longest in county history. He was elected to the post in September 2001 by a unanimous vote of Cook County Circuit Court judges, and he was reelected every three years afterward through 2022.
As chief judge, he led efforts for fair bail rates — calling for monetary bail to be set only in amounts that defendants could afford. Experts note that this policy paved the way for the SAFE-T Act, which eliminated cash bail in Illinois.
Evans also instituted numerous other reforms, including a policy of assigning public and private defense attorneys to represent people who have been arrested when they are still in custody at police stations.
The Cook County Domestic Violence Court opened under Evans' watch, and Evans also expanded courts addressing mental health treatment, support for veterans, drug rehabilitation, and those arrested on prostitution charges, according to the chief judge's office.
Evans also opened the first Restorative Justice Community Court in Chicago's North Lawndale neighborhood, and was known as an advocate for women, minorities, and the LGBTQ+ community, according to the chief judge's office.
Evans, 82, was well-known in Chicago long before he became a judge in 1992. He was elected alderman of the 4th Ward in 1973 — representing parts of the Hyde Park, Kenwood, and Bronzeville neighborhoods in the City Council.
After Harold Washington was elected mayor in 1983, Evans served as Washington's floor leader and as City Council Finance Committee chairman.
Mayor Washington died in office on Nov. 25, 1987. A heated battle followed on the Chicago City Council floor over the pick for an acting mayor — with alders split between support for Evans and for Ald. Eugene Sawyer (6th). Both aldermen were Black, but Evans' backers argued that those who were pushing Sawyer represented the Democratic machine and the 29 aldermen who had fought Mayor Washington, Chicago's first Black mayor, in the infamous Council Wars.
Finally, Sawyer won the vote for acting mayor, receiving 29 votes to Evans' 19.
Evans also ran on the Harold Washington Party ticket in the 1989 special election to finish Mayor Washington's unexpired term, but lost to Democrat Richard M. Daley.
In 1991, Evans lost his bid for another term as 4th Ward alderman to Toni Preckwinkle, who was later elected Cook County Board president.
Judge Beach was appointed as a Cook County Circuit Court judge by the Illinois Supreme Court in 2017, following the resignation of Judge Richard C. Cooke. Judge Beach has served in the Traffic, Pretrial, and Law divisions.
Before becoming a judge, Beach spent 17 years working as a trial attorney — in private practice with his law firm Charles s. Beach P.C., and before that as an assistant Cook County public defender.