By: Ashmar Mandou

In 2000, Dorothy Brown was elected as the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County and has been re-elected to two additional terms in Office. Since taking office, Clerk Brown has created changes to the operations of the Circuit Court Clerk’s by implementing, through her focus on improving services within five strategic areas: 21st Century Technology, Operational Efficiency, Customer Service, Employee Training and Development, and Financial Accountability. Clerk Brown has applied a host of innovative programs, which have streamlined processes, improved quality service, saved millions of dollars for taxpayers, and increased revenue for Cook County administration. Although, Clerk Brown has faced tough criticism from her opponent Alderman Ricardo Muñoz, Clerk Brown intends to stick to the issues. On her agenda, if re-elected, would be to:

• Introduce credit card payment system for bail bonds–led to quicker turnaround of persons in custody and reduction in cash discrepancies. Collected over $38 million.
• Implement online Orders of Protection (OOPs) forms, guidelines for completing OOPs, and instructions for obtaining court orders.
• Consolidate the mainframe system with Cook County for savings of $1 million.
• Implement e-filing for commercial litigation in Law Division.