Government of Cook County, Illinois facts for kids
The government of Cook County, Illinois is primarily composed of the Board of Commissioners, other elected officials such as the Sheriff, State's Attorney, Treasurer, Board of Review, Clerk, Assessor, Recorder, Cook County Circuit Court judges and Circuit Court Clerk, as well as numerous other officers and entities. Cook County is the only home rule county in Illinois. The Cook County Code is the codification of Cook County's local ordinances.
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Organization
Board of Commissioners
The Cook County Board of Commissioners is the county's legislative body. It made up of 17 commissioners who are elected by district for four year terms. The county board sets policy and laws for the county regarding property, public health services, public safety, and maintenance of county highways. It is presided over by the County Board President, currently Toni Preckwinkle.
Sheriff
The Cook County Sheriff is the sheriff. All Cook County Sheriff's Deputies have police powers regardless of their particular job function or title. Like other Sheriffs' departments in Illinois, the Sheriff can provide all traditional law-enforcement functions, including county-wide patrol and investigations irrespective of municipal boundaries, even in the city of Chicago, but has traditionally limited its police patrol functions to unincorporated areas of the county.
The Cook County Department of Corrections operates the Cook County Jail, the largest single-site jail in the nation. Notable Officer ``` Deputy Joe Fiorentino ``` Cook County Crime Stoppers Law Enforcement Award and Ellis Island Medal of Honor.
State's Attorney
The Cook County State's Attorney handles criminal prosecutions.
Recorder of Deeds
The Cook County Recorder of Deeds records, stores and maintains land records and other official documents in perpetuity for public and private use, facilitating home ownership and mortgage lending. The Office is a statutorily-authorized repository for federal military discharge records (Form DD-214), which are held as private records available only to those authorized by law. The current Cook County Recorder of Deeds is Karen Yarbrough.
Circuit Court
The Circuit Court of Cook County, which is a State agency funded, in part, by Cook County, accepts more than 1.2 million cases each year for filing. The Cook County Juvenile Detention Center, under the authority of the Chief Judge of the State court, is the first juvenile center in the nation and one of the largest in the nation.
Images for kids
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WPA poster for the Cook County Public Health Unit (1941)
