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The Cook County Board of Commissioners is a legislative body made up of 17 commissioners who are elected by district, and a president who is elected county-wide, all for four-year terms.
Cook County Cook County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, California. More than 40% of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County. As of 20 ...
, which includes the City of
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
, is the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
' second-largest county with a population of 5.2 million residents. 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 its president, currently
Toni Preckwinkle Toni Lynn Preckwinkle (née Reed; born March 17, 1947) is an American politician and the current County Board President in Cook County, Illinois, United States. She was first elected as President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners, the ...
. The commissioners, president, and county clerk (who serves as clerk of the board), hold the same offices ''ex officio'' on the separate governmental taxing body, the Cook County Forest Preserve District Board of Commissioners.


History

Until 1870, Cook County had been governed under the "township supervisor" system, under which each Chicago ward elected a supervisor, and each township elected one or more as well depending on population, creating a board of 50 members, less than half from Chicago. In the wake of a scandal involving then board chairman J. J. Kearney (who was eventually unseated and expelled from the board), the new commission was created pursuant to an amendment to the state constitution, initially with ten Chicago commissioners elected from groups of wards within the city, and five members elected from groups of townships outside the city, presided over by a chairman elected by the board from among their own number. The commissioners were elected for three-year terms, on a staggered basis. The first meeting of the new board took place December 4, 1871; they elected businessman and Civil War general
Julius White Julius White (September 23, 1816May 12, 1890) was an American businessman and brigadier general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. After the war, he served as U.S. Minister (ambassador) to Argentina. Early life and career Bor ...
of Evanston as their chairman.


Elections

The board's seventeen commissioners are elected from individual constituencies for four year terms, with elections for all constituencies held during
United States midterm election Midterm elections in the United States are the general elections that are held near the midpoint of a president's four-year term of office, on Election Day on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November. Federal offices that are up for e ...
s. Its president is elected at-large to a four-year term in elections held during United States midterm elections. Prior to
1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicist ...
, commissioners were elected through two sets of elections, one held in
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
to elect ten commissioners and another held in suburban Cook County to elect the remaining seven commissioners. In
1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...
, the board switched to having commissioners elected from individual constituencies.


Commissioners


Current

This is a list of the Cook County Commissioners in order by district. This list is current as of December 2022.


Past


Before 1994

Individuals who, before 1994, served as president of the Cook County Board of Commissioners included J. Frank Aldrich, Edward J. Brundage,
Anton Cermak Anton Joseph Cermak ( cs, Antonín Josef Čermák, ; May 9, 1873 – March 6, 1933) was an American politician who served as the 44th mayor of Chicago, Illinois from April 7, 1931 until his death on March 6, 1933. He was killed by an assassin, ...
,
George Dunne George W. Dunne (February 20, 1913 – May 28, 2006) was an American politician within the Democratic Party from Chicago, Illinois. He was President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners from 1969 to 1991; the longest service of anyone ...
,
Richard B. Ogilvie Richard Buell Ogilvie (February 22, 1923 – May 10, 1988) was the 35th governor of Illinois and served from 1969 to 1973. A wounded combat veteran of World War II, he became known as the mafia-fighting sheriff of Cook County, Illinois, in t ...
, Richard Phelan, Dan Ryan Jr. Charles C. P. Holden, and Seymour Simon. The first county board chairman (a role which preceded the creation of the president position) was
Julius White Julius White (September 23, 1816May 12, 1890) was an American businessman and brigadier general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. After the war, he served as U.S. Minister (ambassador) to Argentina. Early life and career Bor ...
. Individuals who served as commissioners before the move to individual constituencies in 1994 included Charles Bernardini, George Marquis Bogue, Charles S. Bonk,
Jerry Butler Jerry Butler Jr. (born December 8, 1939) is an American soul singer-songwriter, producer, musician, and retired politician. He was the original lead singer of the R&B vocal group the Impressions, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame i ...
, Allan C. Carr, Carl R. Chindblom,
John P. Daley John P. Daley (born December 5, 1946) is the 11th Ward Democratic Committeeman in Chicago, Illinois, a member of the Cook County Board of Commissioners ( 11th district), and the Chair of the Cook County Board Audit and Finance Committee. He has ...
,
Danny K. Davis Daniel K. Davis (born September 6, 1941) is an American politician who is the U.S. representative from , elected in 1996. The district serves much of western Chicago, including the Loop. It also includes several of Chicago's inner western subu ...
, Oscar Stanton De Priest, Marco Domico,
Martin Emerich Martin Emerich (April 27, 1846 – September 25, 1922) was a U.S. Representative from Illinois. Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Emerich attended the public schools. He engaged in the importing business. He was appointed ward commissioner of th ...
, Carter Harrison Sr., John Humphrey, John Jones, Walter J. LaBuy,
Ted Lechowicz Thaddeus S. "Ted" Lechowicz (December 20, 1938 – January 5, 2009) was an American politician and businessman. Born in Chicago, Illinois, Lechowicz went to Weber High School in Chicago. He received his associate degree from Wright Junior Col ...
, Maria Pappas, Lillian Piotrowski, Herb Schumann,
Harry H. Semrow Harry H. Semrow (August 19, 1915 – November 23, 1987) was an American politician, businessman, baseball team owner. From 1957 until 1961, Semrow served in the Illinois House of Representatives as a Democratic Party (United States), Democr ...
,
Francis Cornwall Sherman Francis Cornwall Sherman (September 18, 1805November 7, 1870) served as Mayor of Chicago, Illinois, for three terms (1841–1842, 1862–1865) as a member of the Democratic Party. Early life Sherman was born September 17, 1805 in Newtown, Co ...
, Seymour Simon,
Horace M. Singer Horace Meach Singer (October 1, 1823 – December 28, 1896) was an American businessman and politician from New York. Coming with his father to Lockport, Illinois work on the Illinois & Michigan Canal, Singer rose to become superintendent of repa ...
, Bobbie L. Steele, Alanson Sweet,
William Hale Thompson William Hale Thompson (May 14, 1869 – March 19, 1944) was an American politician who served as mayor of Chicago from 1915 to 1923 and again from 1927 to 1931. Known as "Big Bill", Reynolds, Paul (November 29, 2009)"US-UK 'Special Relationshi ...
, and Jill Zwick.


Since 1994


See also

*
Cook County Board of Review The Cook County Board of Review is an independent office created by statute by the Illinois General Assembly and is governed by three commissioners who are elected by district for two- or four-year terms. Cook County, which includes Chicago, is th ...
* Chicago City Council


References


External links


Cook County
''official government website'' *
Commissioners & Elected Officials
*


Collection of news and information about the Cook County Board
from the ''
Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...
''. {{Authority control