Ballot #62   
Democrat   

As Clerk I was responsible for maintaining the records of all court proceedings in Cook County, all electronic data concerning those court records, and the financial transactions resulting from court activity. Our audited correct data rate was 98%.

Cook County is the largest unified court system in the world. I supervised a staff of 2200 employees, of which 1800 were in the bargaining unit (AFSCME), 250 were managers, and 150 were technical. As Clerk I was an independent elected official. However, there are 957 statutory mandates of the Clerks of Court in Illinois, Supreme Court and local court rules which direct the work.

My general responsibilities were those of a CEO, COO, CIO, CFO and Government Relations Director. The office staffs 400 courtrooms in Cook County and handles the behind the scenes work of the Court system. It collected about $400 million each year in revenue, and the budget was $92 million when I left. Every year we returned money to the taxpayers.

I supervised the staff, established legislative goals, set the budget, established operational goals and priorities, established and enforced policies, established and directed union contract negotiations, negotiated and supervised proposals from contractors and vendors, supervised purchases, established and directed new initiatives, established and directed banking relationships, supervised court funds investments, supervised internal and external investigations, directed public information activities, and served as primary spokesperson for the office.

One of my primary responsibilities was to work with outside agencies, including the Congress, federal Executive agencies, Governor’s Office, State Legislature, County Board, judges, Illinois Supreme Court, Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts, Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, Attorney General, Secretary of State, Auditor General, Department of Public Aid, Department of Children and Family Services, Cook County Sheriff, State’s Attorney, Public Defender, City of Chicago, Chicago Police Department, suburban mayors and police departments, local bar associations, and public interest groups.

When I entered office every department and division operated as a separate entity. They had never had a staff meeting. In fact, most of the Division Chiefs had never met. In addition, the Clerk had been indicted and the Greylord scandals had seriously undermined public confidence in the Court system. Clerks routinely accepted “gratuities” from attorneys. Further, it was an office that had a well deserved reputation as a patronage haven where employees were not accountable, did little work and often weren’t even there.

  Specific Achievements:

• Established a Code of Ethics, the first in Cook County, and the first in any major court system
• Ended “gratuities” to clerks
• Reorganized based on function and accountability
• Hired professionals, including attorneys, CPA’s, accountants, and information technical staff
• Established compliance procedures for the more than 900 statutory mandates on the Clerk’s office
• Developed job descriptions for every budgeted position
• Established fair promotion policies and practices
• Developed manager evaluations
• Implemented employee evaluations
• Implemented a dress code
• Established an aggressive training program
• Established an Inspector General and staff
• Developed operating manuals for every division
• Established a Financial Discrepancy Committee
• Established an Ethics Committee
• Installed computer terminals in every courtroom
• Instituted the rotation of court clerk assignments
• Implemented cross training of all employees
• Established an audited correct data rate of 98% confirmed by auditing at three levels
• Established an Archives Department, staffed with professional archivists
• Established assistance to pro se petitioners for orders of protection
• Established Peer Jury programs in 56 suburbs and 2 Chicago Police Districts
• Planned and implemented a seamless transition to Y2K of our legacy and operating
• Programs and applications at minimum cost and without outside consultants
• Improved child support payments from a six day turnaround to 24 hours
• Expanded services in suburban courts
• Reorganized and improved our Record Center (72 linear miles of files)
• Reorganized and improved file security to prevent lost or stolen files
• Established uniform procedures among the various locations
• Improved our responsiveness to new legislation
• Increased the accountability of the operating staffs
• Established internal audit procedures to monitor work at each level
• Improved technology, including bringing whole divisions on-line
• Planned and began the implementation of imaging
• Designed the prototype for e-filing
• Designed and began implementation of a new, integrated cashiering system.
• Worked closely with all major local and state agencies to identify and remedy gaps and
• Overlaps in criminal justice information
• Virtually eliminated time sheet fraud
• Established family friendly policies, including flex time, work through lunch, etc.
• Established a fair and reasonable maternity leave policy
• Developed and installed a system for printing warrants and other important documents in court (CLEWS)
• Supervised a major re-write of our Traffic Court programs and applications
• Supervised a major re-write of our Criminal Court programs and applications
• Originated the county’s digital fingerprint initiative in suburban Cook County
• Wrote the plan for an Integrated Criminal Justice Information Network for Cook County
• Planned and implemented the Clerk’s Web site which includes fillable forms, the daily
• Court call and electronic court docket and case information
• Developed and implemented remote access to Clerk’s records
• Directed the establishment of a general ledger
• Invested court funds in interest bearing accounts
• Returned funds to the County at the end of every fiscal year
• Lobbied effectively for a Single Audit Bill for all Illinois Clerks of Court
• Established a program for outreach to school children to prevent Dating Violence
• Lobbied successfully to add the Clerk of the Court to the State’s Criminal Information Authority.
• Drafted the law which gives judges in child support cases the option of sentencing
• Deadbeat parents to the Sheriff’s Work Alternative Program.
• Drafted the law which closed a significant domestic violence loophole, allowing police to
• Directly arrest on their information and belief that the conditions of an order of protection are being violated
• Drafted the laws which permit Clerks of the Court to take certain transactions by credit and debit cards