Cook County State's Attorney Articles

Illustration of a man sitting at a table with a pile of documents. In the background there are two long shadows looming.

Cook County’s new prosecutor has weakened an already broken system for freeing the innocent

State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke’s Conviction Integrity Unit hasn’t exonerated anyone in her 10 months on the job, and she has done little to confront more than a dozen coercion allegations against a former Chicago police detective and his partners.

by Dan Hinkel September 30, 2025September 29, 2025

A figure stands in front of an arcade-style claw game filled with people. At the back is a door marked DOC. On the floor is a folder marked "State's Attorney's files."

Prosecutors

Three strikes for Cook County prosecutors

Illinois’ prosecutor-initiated resentencing law was supposed to be a progressive policy win. So far, it’s yielded no winners.

by Maya Dukmasova December 19, 2022March 15, 2024

A man sifts through a binder of documents laid out on the hood of his car in a parking lot, while looking at the camera.

Prosecutors

Hundreds more Black Chicagoans are pleading guilty to gun-possession charges. Here’s one possible reason why.

As Chicago police have made more gun arrests, prosecutors are taking nearly all cases through the secretive grand jury process, where indictments are close to a sure thing.

by Josh McGhee June 17, 2022August 20, 2024

Prosecutors

The history and harm behind Illinois’s criminal HIV transmission law

Injustice Watch and the Chicago Reader examined the origins of Illinois’s HIV transmission law, how Cook County prosecutors have leveraged it, and its impacts on people charged. The investigation is part of The Circuit, a courts data project from Injustice Watch, the BGA, and DataMade.

by Adam M. Rhodes June 7, 2021January 8, 2024

Police

State rep to sue Chicago Police for ‘unjust treatment’ after gun charge dropped

“My treatment was a lot different than if it had been my predecessor — a white woman — driving through the neighborhood,” State Rep. Curtis Tarver said.

by Maxwell Evans August 24, 2020April 26, 2024

2018 Primary

Cook County judicial candidate Herrera showed anger toward women supervisors

Cook County judicial candidate David Herrera blew up in an angry 2012 encounter with a female supervisor in the State’s Attorney’s Office. Women in the office say it was not the only time.

by Olivia Stovicek February 6, 2018December 5, 2023

Court Administration

Cook County Chief Judge sues County Board over budget

Cook County’s Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans filed suit against the Cook County Board Thursday, contending the budget cuts would require laying off 161 court employees and put in jeopardy recent efforts to revamp the county’s bail system.

by Emily Hoerner November 30, 2017December 5, 2023

The Long Wait

Attorneys: Cook County judge’s corruption polluted his handling of murder case

In 1977, a judge convicted an 18-year old of murder and sentenced him to 200-to-600 years in prison. Forty years later, the prisoners’ attorneys contend the trial and sentencing were an improper effort by a corrupt judge to dilute public criticism.

by Emily Hoerner and Jeanne Kuang November 29, 2017December 5, 2023

Bail and Pretrial

Fewer suspects held pretrial under new bond rules, chief judge says

Cook County Circuit Court Chief Judge says the new rules he imposed on bond court have driven down the number of pretrial detainees ordered to post cash to be released from custody. “The new system is doing just what I had promised you it would do,” he tells Cook County commissioners at Friday hearing.

by Emily Hoerner October 27, 2017December 5, 2023

Cook County State’s Attorney

Cook County’s new prosecutor has weakened an already broken system for freeing the innocent

Three strikes for Cook County prosecutors

Hundreds more Black Chicagoans are pleading guilty to gun-possession charges. Here’s one possible reason why.

The history and harm behind Illinois’s criminal HIV transmission law

State rep to sue Chicago Police for ‘unjust treatment’ after gun charge dropped

Cook County judicial candidate Herrera showed anger toward women supervisors

Cook County Chief Judge sues County Board over budget

Attorneys: Cook County judge’s corruption polluted his handling of murder case

Fewer suspects held pretrial under new bond rules, chief judge says

Help us investigate the Cook County court system.

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