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Cook County's history
Cook County is named after Daniel Pope Cook, one of the earliest, youngest and most brilliant statesmen in Illinois History. He worked diligently for the statehood of Illinois and was present on April 18, 1818, when it was granted. The Fort Dearborn settlement at the mouth of the Chicago River grew from a population of 30 in 1829 to 60 in 1831, when, by an Act of the State Legislature, Cook County was created and at the same time the unincorporated settlement at the mouth of the Chicago River became the new county's seat. Cook County was created on January 15, 1831 by an act of the Illinois State Legislature and the 54th county established in Illinois. On May 7, 1831, Cook County elected its first officials.|
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Cook County's boundaries
Cook County contains 133 municipalities in its region, the most well known being the City of Chicago, which is the County seat where the central offices of the Cook County Board of Commissioners are located. The City of Chicago and the suburban municipalities account for approximately 85% of the County's 946 square miles, while unincorporated areas make up the remaining 15%. The unincorporated areas of the County are under the jurisdiction of the Cook County Board of Commissioners. The Cook County Government operates within an environment of 539 separate and independent governmental entities. Within Cook County, there are 133 municipalities, 29 townships, 236 special districts, and 152 school districts. It is within this complex framework of local governments that Cook County officials have created a system of cooperation, accountability, and strategic planning for the future.|
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How is the County governed?
Incorporated in 1861, Cook County is a home rule county and is governed by a seventeen-member Board of Commissioners. The citizens of the County elect these Commissioners and a County Board President to four-year terms. Commissioners are elected from single-member districts. While each commissioner represents a district, collectively they represent all of Cook County’s residents. The County Board President is elected by a general vote countywide. There are eleven additional Cook County government independently elected officials, including the Assessor, the three commissioners of the Board of Review, the Chief Judge of the Circuit Court, the Clerk of the Circuit Court, the County Clerk, the Recorder of Deeds, the Sheriff, the State’s Attorney, and the Treasurer. Although these offices are directed by their elected and appointed officials, the President and the Board of Commissioners have the primary fiscal responsibilities.|
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What does the County do?
Cook County is a regional government statutorily mandated to provide public safety, provide public health services, maintain the forest preserves, and maintain suburban highways. It collects and distributes real estate taxes, fees, and bond revenues to fund the primary and secondary school districts, the forest and municipal park districts, the public library system, the metropolitan water system, and other taxing districts.|
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Public Safety & Security
Cook County operates the second largest criminal and civil court system in the nation with more than 350 civil, criminal and traffic courtrooms (disposing over 6 million cases in 1990 alone). The Cook County Jail houses inmates awaiting trail. In 1997, the County opened the Sheriff's Boot Camp, a strict military environment to rehabilitate first-time offenders. Vigorous enforcement of a county ordinance regulating firearms reduced the number of gun dealers in the County by more than 90 percent. The Cook County Circuit Court is the second largest unifi ed court system in the nation.|
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Health Care System
Cook County provides public health and medical services to the citizens of the County, regardless of their ability to pay. The County operates the second largest public health system in the nation. The new Stroger Hospital (formerly Cook County Hospital), opened in October 2002, is a key element in Cook County's comprehensive system of care.
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People & Communities
Economic development initiatives enable businesses to remain and expand in Chicago-Cook County, protecting jobs and the tax base. Cook County trains thousands of people every year for new jobs and better skills for existing jobs. It maintains county highways and helps towns repair infrastructure, fund the purchase of fire trucks and build medical clinics. It helps hundreds of residents buy homes and develops affordable housing for senior citizens and people with disabilities. It monitors air quality to protect public health. |
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Open Space
The Forest Preserve District is one of the largest open space systems in the world, with more than 67,700 acres, 42 lakes, 10 golf courses, more than 200 miles of multi-use trails, as well as swimming pools, toboggan runs, fishing and boating areas, children's camps, nature centers, and the world-renowned Brookfield Zoo and Chicago Botanic Garden. |
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How does the County function?
The responsibilities, duties and obligations of the County government are divided among 75 departments with 25,575 employees. The President of the Board has direct authority over 41 departments, most organized under seven bureaus: Administration, Finance, Health, Human Resources, Information Technology and Automation, Capital Planning, and Public Safety/Judicial Coordination. Other elected officials, such as the County Sheriff and the State's Attorney, oversee 55 departments; their budgets and programs are subject to the approval of the President and the Board of Commissioners. |
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How is the County funded?
The Cook County budget ($3.1 billion in FY 2006) covers the activities of the County itself, including expenses for the Circuit Court of Cook County and all the independently elected county officials, but not for the forest preserve district (which has a separate budget). Although public safety and health care services do not reflect all County obligations, appropriations for these services comprised 91.6% (50.8% for public safety and 40.8% for public health) of the County's General Funds budget in FY 2006.|
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What are the County's sources for funding?
Cook County uses revenue sources available to a home rule county. In addition to property and sales taxes, funds also come from state and federal government matching dollars, appropriations and grants; fees for services and statutory percentages of certain court fines; interest on investments; and from sale or lease of land and/or property. The County can also collect fees for licenses, parking, permits and franchises, and income from fines in unincorporated areas where no municipality is collecting such charges. More than 75 percent of Cook County's tax and fee revenues are allocated and distributed to local government.
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