Timothy C. Evans (born June 1, 1943) is an American attorney, politician, former alderman and the current Chief Judge of the

Cook County Circuit Court The Circuit Court of Cook County is the largest of the 24 judicial circuits in Illinois as well as one of the largest unified court systems in the United States — second only in size to the Superior Court of Los Angeles County since that court ...

. Evans is noted as the first African-American Chief Judge of the Cook County Circuit Court.Timothy Evans Elected Chief Judge Of Circuit Court In Cook County, IL | Jet | Find Articles at BNET
/ref> A graduate of the John Marshall Law School in Chicago, Evans was first elected to the bench in 1992, and was selected by his fellow judges as Chief Judge in 2001.

Biography

Early life and education

Born the middle of three children in Hot Springs, Arkansas to George and Tiny Marie Evans, his family relocated to Chicago sometime during the great migration. Having attended elementary school in Arkansas, Evans attended

Hirsch Metropolitan High School Emil G. Hirsch Metropolitan High School (formerly known as Emil G. Hirsch Metropolitan High School of Communications) is a public 4–year high school located in the Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois, Unit ...

; graduating in 1961. After high school, Evans went on to study at Illinois State University, and later transferred to

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

where he graduated with a B.S. in zoology. Evans earned his J.D. degree at John Marshall Law School in 1969 and joined the Democratic Party.

Alderman (1973–1991)

Evans was elected alderman of the city's south side 4th Ward in a November 27, 1973 special election to fill the vacancy created six months earlier by the death of Ald.

Claude Holman Claude Holman (January 31, 1904 – June 1, 1973) was an American lawyer and politician. Holman was born in Topeka, Kansas. He went to Crane Junior College and Loyola University Chicago. Holman received his law degree from John Marshall Law ...

on June 1, 1973. Evans defeated Hattie B. Kay Williams, a 50-year-old executive of the Girl Scouts and civil rights activist by a vote of 6,784 to 3,136. An ally of mayors Daley, Bilandic, Byrne and Washington, Evans served as floor leader and Chicago City Council Finance Chair during Harold Washington's mayoral administration. Following Washington's death, Evans sought to fill Washington's unexpired term. The Chicago City Council voted to choose Alderman Eugene Sawyer to serve in the interim. Evans continued to serve as alderman. Evans ran as an independent candidate during a special election was held for

Mayor of Chicago The mayor of Chicago is the chief executive of city government in Chicago, Illinois, the third-largest city in the United States. The mayor is responsible for the administration and management of various city departments, submits proposals and r ...

to fill Washington's term in 1989. Evans received 482,000 votes but eventually lost to

Richard M. Daley Richard Michael Daley (born April 24, 1942) is an American politician who served as the 54th mayor of Chicago, Illinois, from 1989 to 2011. Daley was elected mayor in 1989 and was reelected five times until declining to run for a seventh term ...

, son of former multi-term mayor

Richard J. Daley Richard Joseph Daley (May 15, 1902 – December 20, 1976) was an American politician who served as the Mayor of Chicago from 1955 and the chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party Central Committee from 1953 until his death. He has been cal ...

. After 18 years in office, in 1991 Evans was defeated for re-election as alderman in the 4th Ward by Toni Preckwinkle.

Cook County Circuit Judge

In 1992, Evans was elected to the bench as judge of

. In September 2001, Evans was elected as the first black Chief Judge of the Cook County Circuit Court succeeding Donald O'Connell.

Personal

Evans has been married to his wife Thelma Evans since November 1969.Chicago Tribune - Timothy Evans - March 3, 1989
/ref> Evans met his wife during his time at

. Together, they have two twin daughters; Cynthia and Catherine EvansChicago Sun-Times - HE WATCHDOGS: Chief Cook County Judge Timothy Evans has his two daughters on payroll - October 22, 2012
/ref> (b. 1970 or 1971). Evans was inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame in 2010.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Timothy Living people Chicago City Council members African-American people in Illinois politics 1943 births John Marshall Law School (Chicago) alumni Politicians from Hot Springs, Arkansas African-American judges Judges of the Circuit Court of Cook County 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people