Cook County Illinois Warrant Search

Cook County, Illinois Cook County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is the second most populous county in the United States after Los Angeles County. The county has 5,294,664 residents, which is 43.3% of all Illinois residents. Cook County's population is larger than that of 29 individual U.S. states and the combined populations of the seven smallest US states. There are over 130 incorporated municipalities in Cook County, the largest of which is the county seat, Chicago, which makes up approximately 54% of the population of the county. The county is divided into 30 different townships. Geographically the county is the fifth largest in Illinois by land area and shares the state's Lake Michigan shoreline with Lake County. History Cook County was created on January 15, 1831 out of Putnam County by an act of the Illinois State Legislature. It was the 54th county established in Illinois and was named after Daniel 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 and politics Cook County's current County Board president is Todd Stroger. The 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 voted only once for a Republican candidate in a Presidential election in the last forty years, when county voters preferred Richard Nixon to George McGovern in 1972.The Cook County Democratic Organization is one of the most powerful political machines in American history. Commonly called the 'Chicago Democratic machine',[citation needed] or simply the 'Chicago Machine',[citation needed] the organization has dominated Chicago politics since the 1930s. Corruption and scandal have frequently been synonymous with the machine.[citation needed]The Circuit Court of Cook County, which files more than 1.2 million cases every year, the Cook County Department of Corrections, also known as the Cook County Jail, 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 Cook County, Provident Hospital, and Oak Forest Hospital of Cook County, along with over 30 clinics.The Cook County Highway Department is responsible for the design and maintenance 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 69,000 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.In March 2008, the Cook County Board increased sales tax one percent, increasing the county sales tax rate from 0.75% to 1.75%. This followed a recent quarter-cent increase in mass transit taxing coming into effect in April. In Chicago, the rate increased to 10.25 percent, the steepest nominal rate of any major metropolitan area in America (the actual rate is much lower, as the sales tax does not apply to many items taxed elsewhere). In Evanston, sales tax reached 10 percent and Oak Lawn residents will pay 9.5 percent. On July 22, 2008, the Cook County board voted against Cook County Commissioner's proposal to repeal the tax increase. 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 former U.S. president and Illinois resident. 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 coalition 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 argued 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.Talk of secession amongst outlying communities have again heated up in mid-2008 in response to a highly controversial 1% sales tax hike which has pushed the sales tax rate in Chicago proper to 10.25%, and pushed the nominal tax rates across the various other county communities up amongst the highest in the nation (the actual rate is much lower, as the sales tax does not apply to many items covered by sales taxes in other major metropolitan areas, e.g., periodicals). Border towns in particular have been outraged, as people can take their business across the county border (paying, for instance, 7% in Lake County instead of Palatine's 11%).[citation needed] In March 2009, advisory referenda in Barrington, Hanover and Palatine Townships passed recommending secession from Cook County. Geography According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,635 square miles (4,234.6 km2), of which 946 square miles (2,450.1 km2) is land and 689 square miles (1,784.5 km2) (42.16%) is water, most of it in Lake Michigan. The highest point in Cook County is its northwest corner, at nearly 1,000 feet above sea level. Adjacent counties Lake County,Illinois- north Lake County,Indiana- southeast Will County,Illinois- south DuPage County,Illinois- west Kane County,Illinois- west McHenry County,Illinois- northwest Berrien County,Michigan- east (across Lake Michigan) National protected area Chicago Portage National Historic Site Demographics As of the 2000 Census, there were 5,376,741 people, 1,974,181 households, and 1,269,398 families residing in the county. The population density was 5,686 people per square mile (2,195/km²). There were 2,096,121 housing units at an average density of 2,216 per square mile (856/km²). 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. 9.1% were of Polish, 8.1% German, 7.9% Irish and 5.7% Italian ancestry according to Census 2000. 17.63% reported speaking Spanish at home; 3.13% speak Polish.According to the 2006-2008 American Community Survey, White Americans made up 52.9% of Cook County's population; non-Hispanic whites represented 44.9% of the population. Black Americans made up 25.4% of the population. Native Americans made up 0.2% of Cook County's population. Asian Americans made up 5.7% of the population. Pacific Islander Americans made up just 0.1% of the population. Individuals from other races made up 14.1% of the population; people from two or more races made up 1.6% of the county's population. Hispanics and Latinos (of any race) made up 22.8% of Cook County's population.Whites are the largest racial group in Cook County. Whites of both Hispanic and non-Hispanic origin form a majority (53%) of the population; however, whites of non-Hispanic origin make up just under 45% of the population. This makes Cook County a minority-majority county. Whites (Hispanic and non-Hispanic) number at roughly 2,793,500 individuals. There are roughly 2,372,500 non-Hispanic whites residing in Cook County. The White population is ethnically diverse. The bulk of the White population is of German (11.4%), Irish (10.3%), Polish (9.7%), Italian (6.1%), and English (3.3%) descent. There are sizable numbers of Swedes (1.5%), Russians (1.5%), French (1.3%), Greeks (1.2%), Czechs (1.0%), Dutch (1.0%), Lithuanians (0.9%), Norwegians (0.8%), and Scots (0.8%).Black Americans are the second largest racial group. Black Americans form over one-quarter (25.4%) of Cook County's population. Blacks of non-Hispanic origin form 25.2% of the population; black Hispanics make up the remaining 0.2% of the populace. There are roughly 1,341,000 African Americans of both Hispanic and non-Hispanic origin living in Cook County; 1,328,000 are non-Hispanic blacks. Roughly 52,500 individuals were of Sub-Saharan African ancestry, making up 1.0% of the total population.Native Americans are sizable in number but small in the percentage of the population. Over 10,200 residents of Cook County are of Native American heritage, equivalent to just 0.2% of the total population. There are 974 Cherokee, 612 Chippewa, 430 Navajo, and 96 Sioux living in Cook County. Native Americans of Hispanic origin represent much of the Native American population group. Some 5,900 Native Americans are of non-Hispanic origin, so some 4,300 are of Hispanic origin. Over 40% of the Native American racial group is of Hispanic descent.Asian Americans are a sizable racial group despite the much larger numbers of African and European Americans. Over 300,800 Americans of Asian origin reside in Cook County. Like the Caucasian populace, the Asian population is ethnically diverse, and includes roughly 87,900 Indians, 61,700 Filipinos, 60,700 Chinese, 35,000 Koreans, 13,700 Vietnamese, and 11,100 Japanese. Roughly 30,800 individuals are of other Asian ethnic groups, such as Thai, Cambodian, and Hmong. Indian Americans make up 1.7% of the population, while Chinese and Filipino Americans make up 1.2% of the population each.Pacific Islander Americans are, by far, the smallest racial group in Cook County. Just over 3,000 individuals are of Pacific Islander heritage. This group includes roughly 780 Native Hawaiians, 670 Guamanians, 120 Samoans, and 1,400 people of other Pacific Islander groups.Hispanic and Latino Americans make up over one-fifth (22.8%) of Cook County's population. Roughly 1,204,000 Hispanics live in the county. Mexicans are, by far, the most common Hispanic group. Cook County's 925,000 Mexican Americans make up 17.5% of its population. Roughly 127,000 Puerto Ricans make up 2.4% of the population. About 12,200 Cubans form just 0.2% of the total population. There are some 140,000 Hispanics and Latinos of other nationalities living in Cook County (i.e. Colombian, Bolivian, etc., and they collectively make up 2.6% of the county's population.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. Townships The county is divided into thirty townships. 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 Former townships Chicago's eight former townships and annexed parts of others no longer have any governmental structure or responsibility since their annexations, but their names and boundaries are still used on property plats and by Cook County for tax assessment purposes.Jefferson Township Hyde Park Township Lake Township Lake View Township North Township Rogers Park Township South Township West Township Municipalities Several municipalities straddle county borders. Cities BerwynBlue Island Burbank Bridgeview Calumet City Chicago- small, non-residential part (approximately 1/3 ofO'Hare International Airport) is inDuPage County Chicago Heights Country Club Hills Countryside Des Plaines Elgin- mostly inKane County Evanston Harvey Hometown Markham Northlake Oak Forest Oak Lawn Palos Heights Palos Hills Park Ridge Rolling Meadows Towns Cicero Pop culture references NBCmedical-drama,ERis set in Cook County. The hospital is named 'Cook County General Hospital', although filmed in Los Angeles. The 1928 playThe Front Pageis a newspaper comedy focussed on the impending hanging of a prisoner at the Cook County Jail. The play has been made into at least four movies and four television productions. In the 1980 film,The Blues Brothers, the title characters race to the offices of the Cook County Assessor to pay the back taxes owed by the church-owned orphanage in which the characters were reared. In reality, however, back taxes are paid in the Office of the Cook County Clerk in room 434, and church-owned property is tax exempt anyway. Near the end, a car is driven through the lobby of theDaley Center courthouse, and the County Building is stormed by the title characters and hundreds of policemen and soldiers.Murphy Dunne, who played the pianist in the movie, is the son of then Cook County Board PresidentGeorge Dunne. In the filmThe Fugitive, a 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 seriesPrison Break,LJ Burrowsis 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 1927'sChicago, 1942'sRoxie Hart, and 2002'sChicago(all of which were based upon stage plays entitledChicago), Roxie Hart is confined to the Cook County Jail. Exterior photography of the Cook County Criminal Courthouse was used frequently on the television series,Hill Street Blues, to set up the program's court scenes. In the 1990 film,Home Alone, the house is located in the inner-ring suburbs ofChicago, in the village ofWinnetkawhich is located around 19 miles (30 km) north of the city in New Trier Township, Cook County. In the sitcomMarried with Children, the Bundy family house (as well as the Rhoades/D'Arcy house) is supposed to be in Cook County. In the musicalPal Joey, Ludlow Lowell says that's his real name because 'Cook County says it's my name.' CBSlegal dramaThe Good Wifeis set in Cook County. The lyrics to the song PUT YOUR FAITH IN ME fromDance Dance Revolution 2ndMIXmention Cook county ('Born and raised in Chicago cook county...')