Pledging a transparent and compassionate approach to justice, Cook County’s new Chief Judge Charles Beach on Monday took his oath of office before a crowd of judges, attorneys and state and local officials, becoming the first new leader of the county’s judiciary in nearly a quarter of a century.

In a surprise win in September, Beach unseated Chief Judge Tim Evans following a secret-ballot vote among his fellow judges, many of whom attended or spoke Monday during the downtown ceremony at the Chicago-Kent College of Law.

Addressing the crowd in his first public comments as chief judge, Beach said the challenge they face is to ensure the court system “operates with principle and true humanity.”

“Our court is not merely a collection of buildings and procedures,” Beach said. “It is the vital mechanism of which our community resolves its deepest conflicts and upholds its most cherished ideals.”

Evans, who attended the ceremony and received a standing ovation, will stay on and handle matters related to the county’s restorative justice courts, the chief judge’s office said.

The leadership change comes at a critical point for the nation’s second-largest unified court system, as officials contend with outdated technology, slow-moving and backlogged dockets and changes in how the county handles its electronic monitoring programs.

Beach will take over an office that is currently working through the major undertaking of absorbing all electronic monitoring after Sheriff Tom Dart earlier this year began sundowning his program. The office also oversees management of the often-troubled Juvenile Temporary Detention Center. Advocates have been trying to close the center for years in favor of a smaller or more community-based approach.

“The weight of this office is profound,” said Beach, who touted increased transparency, better communication among stakeholders and improved technology as goals for his administration.

The law school auditorium was crowded with members of the state bar, Cook County Board commissioners and officials, including Board President Toni Preckwinkle, Cook County Public Defender Sharone Mitchell, Jr., Circuit Court Clerk Mariyana Spyropoulos, Illinois Senate President Don Harmon and Illinois House Speaker Chris Welch.

Five members of the Illinois Supreme Court also joined Beach on stage, including Justice P. Scott Neville, who administered the oath of office.

Beach’s fellow judges spoke of him as a fair and approachable jurist, a trusted friend and a mentor, even in early days when they were adversaries in the courtroom.

In particular, Beach’s former colleagues in the pretrial division spoke of his leadership in transitioning the system from a cash bail process to a new paradigm following the passage of the Pretrial Fairness Act.

“Our court system is at its core a human institution,” said Judge Ankur Srivastava, who serves in the pretrial division. “It is imperfect, demanding, often messy and it is precisely because it is human that its functioning relies upon the very best of our humanity.”

A former trial attorney with an expertise in DUI offenses, Beach was appointed to the bench eight years ago by the Illinois Supreme Court, also serving as a supervising judge in the traffic division. Most recently, Beach served in the Law Division at the Daley Center hearing civil cases.

Chief Judge Tim Evans talks at the Daley Center after being named to his new post, Sept. 12, 2001. (Alex Garcia/Chicago Tribune)

Evans, 82, was previously alderman of the city’s 4th Ward, an ally of the four mayors he served under, but especially Mayor Harold Washington. After Washington’s sudden death in 1987, Evans ran unsuccessfully to succeed him — both to finish Washington’s unexpired mayoral term and in the 1989 special election. He lost to Richard M. Daley.

Beach nodded to Evans’ record as a proponent of progressive approaches to justice and work in seeking ways to increase equity in the system.

“Judge Evans once noted: We cannot prosecute our way out of the kinds of crimes that emerging adults commit,” Beach said. “This is a powerful, progressive mandate. It demands our whole system view justice not just in the lens of punishment but also the lens of restoration and opportunity.”

Judge John Lyke, who also served with Beach in the pretrial division, called Evans’ long tenure one of “integrity and grace.”

Speaking at the ceremony, Lyke said when he heard that his longtime friend Beach was planning to run for chief judge, he told him he had already promised to support Evans.

Still, upon winning, Beach asked Lyke to join his steering committee.

“Even though I told you I was trying to kick your butt,” Lyke said, to laughs from the crowd.

With Beach’s permission, Lyke shared a text message Beach sent to him two days after his upset victory that he said offers a look into Beach’s character.

“John, uncomfortable ask, but want to know, is he okay?” Beach texted, speaking of his opponent, Evans. “I respect the hell out of him and I hate to see him hurt.”

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/01/cook-county-chief-judge-charles-beach-oath/