After a groundbreaking 24-year reign, Cook County Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans has been replaced. On September 10, 2025, his fellow Circuit Judges voted 144-109 (with one spoiled ballot) to elect Judge Charles Beach as the next Chief Judge of the Cook County Circuit Court. Beach will assume the role on December 1, serving a three-year term. This marks the first leadership change since Evans took office in September 2001.
Evans’ unbroken string of re-elections—often uncontested—reflected a deep level of respect among his peers. His judicial colleagues backed his leadership repeatedly, seeing in his tenure steady progress on key reforms. Asked during the recent vote what he would do if he lost, Evans replied, “I don’t spend much time trying to figure out what will happen if I lose.” He also defended his long tenure, stating, “I believe a healthy democracy is based upon talent and capability, not age,” and argued that term limits would prevent qualified, experienced leaders from serving.
The selection of a chief judge is not a public process but an internal election conducted by Cook County’s Circuit Judges every three years. Judges cast their votes by secret paper ballot at the Daley Center. This year required two rounds of balloting. After the first round, Judge Nichole Patton, who received just 14 votes, withdrew and endorsed Beach. That endorsement proved decisive, helping Beach secure the votes to unseat Evans after more than two decades.
The outcome brought an emotional response. Beach praised Evans immediately after the vote, saying, “He’s led us with dignity and compassion and empathy for 24 years. What he’s added to the judiciary cannot be quantified in words. He’s been a true leader.” Patton, while acknowledging Evans’ contributions, called for renewal: “We’ve had 24 years, and we thank Chief Judge Timothy Evans for his service, but I believe that the challenges that we face today require fresh energy, new energy, new solutions, and a leader who’s deeply invested in every judge’s success.”
Evans’ record over those years was both broad and groundbreaking. He oversaw the expansion of specialty courts designed to address root causes rather than just punishment, including courts for veterans, mental health, substance use, and prostitution. In 2017, he introduced the state’s first Restorative Justice Community Court in North Lawndale, which has since been replicated in other neighborhoods, allowing young adults accused of nonviolent crimes to repair harm through dialogue, restitution, and community service rather than incarceration. He was at the forefront of bail reform, directing judges to consider a defendant’s ability to pay when setting bail, a move that paved the way for the statewide Pretrial Fairness Act and ultimately the elimination of cash bail in Illinois.
His leadership also extended to protecting vulnerable populations. He opened a Domestic Violence Courthouse, established divisions dedicated to family law and elder law, and created children’s centers inside courthouses to provide safe, supervised care while parents attended proceedings. Under his guidance, Cook County became one of the first jurisdictions to provide public defenders at police stations so suspects had representation during the earliest stages of detention.
Equally significant was Evans’ work on representation within the judiciary. He made intentional appointments so that women and minorities came to hold a majority of presiding judge positions across the county’s 17 divisions and districts. His emphasis on diversity in leadership gave historically marginalized voices a greater presence at the highest levels of Cook County’s courts. National recognition followed: in 2009 he received the William H. Rehnquist Award for Judicial Excellence, one of the highest honors for a state court judge, and in 2017 Chicago Lawyer named him “Person of the Year.”
Advocates outside the judiciary also noted his impact. Public Defender Sharone Mitchell Jr. praised Evans’ support for ending money bail, saying his work “uplift[s] our communities” and sets a foundation that should continue. Naomi Johnson of the Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts described the role itself as one of enormous influence, saying, “What the chief judge does is set values and set priorities. They’re just an extremely influential figure over our system.” The Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice, in a statement, thanked Evans for helping pave the way for the end of money bail, calling him a “champion of pretrial reform” whose work proved that Illinois could reduce pretrial jailing while prioritizing safety.
As Beach prepares to take over in December, he has already signaled his plans. “We’re going to have multiple transition teams… We want to collaborate with the clerk’s office, with the sheriff’s office and, obviously, other stakeholders,” he said after the vote. His campaign emphasized stronger communication, improved training for judges, enhanced courthouse security, and developing new policies for challenges such as immigration-related cases.
For Evans, who has served in public life for more than five decades as alderman, reformer, and judge, the future is not yet determined. He may return to his courtroom role or choose retirement after 52 years in public service. For Black Chicagoans and all Cook County residents, his departure is a reminder of both how far the courts have come and how fragile reforms can be without continued leadership. The institution now passes to new hands, tasked with carrying forward Evans’ vision of a more just and humane system.