Cook County, Illinois

Cook County, Illinois

Cook County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. As of 2006, the population was 5,288,655, making it the second largest county by population in the United States (after Los Angeles County, California), and accounting for 43.3% of the state's population (if Cook County were an independent state, it would have the 21st largest population). The county seat is Chicago, the principal city of its metropolitan area; Chicago makes up about 54% of the population of the county, the rest being provided by various suburbs. Cook County is the 19th largest government in the United States. Cook County has by far more Democratic Party members than any other Illinois county, and is one of the most Democratic counties in the United States. It has only voted once for a Republican candidate in a Presidential election in the last forty years, in 1972, when county voters preferred Richard Nixon to George McGovern by 53.4% to 46%.

Cook County's current County Board president is Todd Stroger.

History

Cook County was created on January 15, 1831 by an act of the Illinois State Legislature. It was the 54th county established in Illinois and was named after Daniel Pope Cook, one of the earliest and youngest statesmen in Illinois history, who served as the second U.S. Representative from Illinois and the first Attorney General of the State of Illinois. Shortly thereafter, in 1839, DuPage County was carved out of Cook County.

Government

The Circuit Court of Cook County, which is the largest unified court system in the world, disposing of over 6 million cases in 1990 alone, the Cook County Department of Corrections, which is the largest single-site jail in the nation, and the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center, the first juvenile center in the nation and one of the largest in the nation, are solely the responsibility of Cook County government. The Cook County Law Library is the second largest county law library in the nation.

The Bureau of Health Services administers the county's public health services and is the second largest public health system in the nation. Three hospitals are part of this system: John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Crook County, Provident Hospital, and Oak Forest Hospital of Cook County, along with over 30 outpatient clinics.

The Cook County Highway Department is responsible for the design and maintenance of over 578 miles of roadways in the county. These thoroughfares are mostly composed of major and minor arterials, with a few local roads. Although the Highway Department was instrumental in designing many of the expressways in the county, today they are under the jurisdiction of the state.

The Forest Preserve District, organized in 1915, is a separate, independent taxing body, but the Cook County Board of Commissioners also acts as the Forest Preserve District Board of Commissioners. The District is a belt of 68,000 acres (275 km²) of forest reservations surrounding the City of Chicago. The Brookfield Zoo (managed by the Chicago Zoological Society) and the Chicago Botanic Garden (managed by the Chicago Horticultural Society) are located in the forest preserves.

In the 1980s, Cook County was ground zero to an extensive FBI investigation named Operation Greylord. Ninety-two officials were indicted, including 17 judges, 48 lawyers, 8 policemen, 10 deputy sheriffs, 8 court officials, and 1 state legislator.
Cook County is the fifth largest employer in Chicago.[1]

Secession movements

To establish more localized government control and policies which reflect the often different values and needs of large suburban sections of the sprawling county, several secession movements have been made over the years which called for certain townships or municipalities to form their own independent counties.

In the late 1970s, a movement started which proposed a separation of six northwest suburban townships, Cook County's panhandle (Barrington, Hanover, Palatine, Wheeling, Schaumburg, and Elk Grove) from Cook to form Lincoln County, in honor of the native former U.S. president who ironically does not have an Illinois county named after him.[2] It is likely that Arlington Heights would have been the county seat. This northwest suburban region of Cook is moderately conservative and has a population over 500,000. Local legislators, led by State Senator Dave Regnar, went so far as to propose it as official legislation in the Illinois House. The legislation died, however, before coming to a vote.

In 2004, Blue Island mayor Donald Peloquin tried to organize a coaliton of fifty-five south and southwest suburban municipalities to form a new county, also proposing the name Lincoln County. The county would include everything south of Burbank, stretching as far west as Orland Park, as far east as Calumet City, and as far south as Matteson, covering an expansive area with a population of over one million residents. Peloquin cited that the south suburbs are often shunned by the city and blamed the Chicago-centric policies of Cook County government for failing to jumpstart the long-depressed local economy of the south suburban region. Pending sufficient interest from local communities, Peloquin planned a petition drive to place a question regarding the secession on the general election ballot.[3]

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 4,235 km² (1,635 sq mi). 2,449 km² (946 sq mi) of it is land and 1,785 km² (689 sq mi) of it (42.16%) is water, most of it in Lake Michigan.

Adjacent counties

Lake County, Illinois - north
Berrien County, Michigan - east; boundary is in Lake Michigan
Porter County, Indiana - southeast; boundary is in Lake Michigan
Lake County, Indiana - southeast
Will County, Illinois - south
DuPage County, Illinois - west
Kane County, Illinois - west
McHenry County, Illinois - northwest

Demographics

As of the 2000 Census², there were 5,376,741 people, 1,974,181 households, and 1,269,398 families residing in the county. The population density was 2,195/km² (5,686/sq mi). There were 2,096,121 housing units at an average density of 856/km² (2,216/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 56.27% White, 26.14% Black or African American, 0.29% Native American, 4.84% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 9.88% from other races, and 2.53% from two or more races. 19.93% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 17.63% reported speaking Spanish at home; 3.13% speak Polish [1].

2005 Census estimates placed the non-Hispanic white popuation of Cook County at 45.4% of the total population of the county. Other racial groups were African-Americans at 26.4%, Latinos at 22.2% and Asians at 5.5%.[5] 2006 estimates showed the non-Hispanic white percentage of the population down to 44.7%.[6]

According to the 2000 Census there were 1,974,181 households out of which 30.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.0% were married couples living together, 15.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.7% were non-families. 29.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.68 and the average family size was 3.38.

In the county the population was spread out with 26.0% under the age of 18, 9.9% from 18 to 24, 31.7% from 25 to 44, 20.7% from 45 to 64, and 11.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 93.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.5 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $45,922, and the median income for a family was $53,784. Males had a median income of $40,690 versus $31,298 for females. The per capita income for the county was $23,227. About 10.6% of families and 13.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.9% of those under age 18 and 10.3% of those age 65 or over.

According to Census Bureau estimates, the county's population was down to 5,303,683 in 2005 [2].

Townships

Suburban townships by population

Thornton Township - 180,802
Wheeling Township - 155,834
Proviso Township - 155,831
Worth Township - 152,239
Maine Township - 135,623
Schaumburg Township - 134,114
Palatine Township - 112,740
Bremen Township - 109,575
Lyons Township - 109,264
Niles Township - 102,638
Elk Grove Township - 94,969
Leyden Township - 94,685
Bloom Township - 93,901
Orland Township - 91,418
Cicero Township - 85,616
Hanover Township - 83,471
Northfield Township - 82,880
Evanston Township - 74,239
Rich Township - 67,623
New Trier Township - 56,716
Berwyn Township - 54,016
Palos Township - 53,419
Oak Park Township - 52,524
Stickney Township - 38,673
Norwood Park Township - 26,176
Calumet Township - 22,374
Lemont Township - 18,002
Riverside Township - 15,704
Barrington Township - 14,026
River Forest Township - 11,635

Chicago townships

The city of Chicago had a population of 2,896,016 as of the 2000 Census. Its eight former townships and annexed parts of others no longer have any formal structure or responsibility since their annexation, but their names and boundaries are still used by Cook County for tax assessment purposes.

Calumet Township
Cicero Township
Jefferson Township
Hyde Park Township
Lake Township
Lake View Township
Leyden Township
Maine Township
Norwood Park Township
Rogers Park Township
Stickney Township
Lake View Township

Communities

Cities

Berwyn
Blue Island
Burbank
Calumet City
Chicago - small part of O'Hare in DuPage
Chicago Heights
Country Club Hills
Countryside
Des Plaines
Elgin - mostly in Kane County
Evanston
Harvey
Hickory Hills
Markham
Northlake
Oak Forest
Palos Heights
Palos Hills
Park Ridge
Rolling Meadows

Towns

Calumet Park
Cicero

Villages

Alsip
Arlington Heights
Barrington - partly in Lake County
Barrington Hills - partly in Kane, Lake, McHenry Counties
Bartlett - partly in DuPage County, very small parcel in Kane County
Bedford Park
Bellwood
Bensenville - primarily in DuPage County
Berkeley
Bridgeview
Broadview
Brookfield
Buffalo Grove - partly in Lake County
Burnham
Burr Ridge - partly in DuPage County
Chicago Ridge
Crestwood
Deer Park - primarily in Lake County
Deerfield - primarily in Lake County
Dixmoor
Dolton
East Dundee - primarily in Kane County
East Hazel Crest
Elk Grove Village - partly in DuPage County
Elmwood Park
Evergreen Park
Flossmoor
Ford Heights
Forest Park
Forest View
Frankfort - primarily in Will County
Franklin Park
Glencoe
Glenview
Glenwood
Golf
Hanover Park - partly in DuPage County
Harwood Heights
Hazel Crest
Hillside
Hinsdale - partly in DuPage County
Hodgkins
Hoffman Estates - very small parcel in Kane County
Hometown
Homewood
Indian Head Park
Inverness
Justice
Kenilworth
La Grange
La Grange Park
Lansing
Lemont
Lincolnwood
Lynwood
Lyons
Matteson
Maywood
McCook
Melrose Park
Merrionette Park
Midlothian
Morton Grove
Mount Prospect
Niles
Norridge
North Riverside
Northbrook
Northfield
Oak Lawn
Oak Park
Olympia Fields
Orland Hills
Orland Park
Palatine
Palos Park
Park Forest - partly in Will County
Phoenix
Posen
Prospect Heights
Richton Park
River Forest
River Grove
Riverdale
Riverside
Robbins
Roselle - primarily in DuPage County
Rosemont
Sauk Village - small parcel in Will County
Schaumburg - partly in DuPage County
Schiller Park
Skokie
South Barrington
South Chicago Heights
South Holland
Steger - partly in Will County
Stickney
Stone Park
Streamwood
Summit
Thornton
Tinley Park - partly in Will County
University Park - primarily in Will County
Westchester
Western Springs
Wheeling
Willow Springs
Wilmette
Winnetka
Woodridge - primarily in DuPage, small section in Will County and a very small parcel in Cook County.
Worth

Pop culture references


In the 1980 film, The Blues Brothers, the title characters are racing to the offices of the Assessor of Cook County to pay the back taxes owed by the orphanage in which they grew up. In reality, however, back taxes are paid in the Office of the Cook County Treasurer, and church-owned property is tax exempt anyway. Murphy Dunne, who played the pianist in the movie, is the son of then Cook County Board President George Dunne.[7]

In the film The Fugitive, jail visitation is placed not in the jail but in the County Building, again for better visual effect. This film also places the lead character in the old Cook County Hospital for some key scenes.

In “Otis”, an episode of the television series Prison Break, LJ Burrows is sent to a court hearing at the Cook County Courthouse, while his father, Lincoln Burrows, and his uncle, Michael Scofield, attempt to take him out of custody by extracting him while he is in the elevator.

In the film Chicago, Roxie is sent to the Cook County Jail.


External links

Cook County Government Website
Cook County Assessor
Cook County Board of Review
Circuit Court of Cook County
Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County
Clerk of Cook County
Vote! from the Cook County Election Department
Cook County Recorder of Deeds
Cook County Sheriff
Cook County Jail
Cook County State's Attorney
Cook County Treasurer
Forest Preserve District of Cook County