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PROPOSED RESOLUTION
HONORING AND RECOGNIZING THE HONORABLE DOROTHY BROWN, CLERK OF THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY
WHEREAS, Hon. Dorothy Brown was elected in November 2000 as the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County, one of the largest court systems in the world, and is retiring after 20-years of outstanding service; and
WHEREAS, Hon. Dorothy Brown is the first African-American Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County, serving for five consecutive terms, becoming Cook County’s longest serving Clerk of Court, as well as the county’s longest serving African-American elected executive official; and
WHEREAS, During her tenure, Hon. Dorothy Brown implemented in partnership with the Cook County judiciary and the Cook County Board massive upgrades to, and considerably expanded the services of, the Office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court by focusing on five strategic pillars: 21st Century Technology; Improved Customer Service, providing customer service training to all Clerk’s Office employees; Employee Training and Development, providing thousands of hours of training, including diversity and technology training to Clerk’s Office employees; Operational Efficiency, creating a Policies Methods and Procedures for every position and function in the Clerk’s Office; and Financial Accountability, implementing cost savings procedures, and new revenue for the Clerk’s Office; and
WHEREAS, As the Clerk of Court, Hon. Dorothy Brown greatly increased access to justice, by implementing a range of technological innovations in the Clerk’s Office: from creating a number of online services, including Online Traffic Ticket Payment System, Mortgage Surplus Search, Unclaimed Child Support Checks Search, SmartForms (Online Order of Protection service); to having one of the few court clerk Mobile Apps in the United States, Court Clerk Mobile Connect; to making the case management systems, all electronic, in 2002, by installing an electronic system in the Probate and County divisions; to implementing an integrated cashiering system in 2004; to implementing an integrated eTraffic Ticket system to make traffic stops faster and safer for police officers in 2005; to implementing an Intranet system to balance the playing field for communicating information directly to the Clerk’s Office employees; to championing the implementation of electronic filing in Illinois, being one of the first court clerks in Illinois to implement an integrated eFiling system in 2009; to implementing an Imaging Document Management System for the digitization of millions of court documents from 2009 to 2014; to implementing an integrated eTraffic Ticket system to make traffic stops faster and safer for police officers in 2011; to providing Digital Access Terminals in all Clerk’s Office locations for viewing and retrieving the imaged documents in 2016; to installing Smart Kiosks and digital monitors for accessing court information in 2019; and, finally, selecting and installing a new, state-of-the-art, case management system from 2017 to 2020, to replace the 40-year-old, legacy mainframe case management systems that she inherited for Criminal, Civil and Traffic cases; and
WHEREAS, Hon. Dorothy Brown championed integrated information systems and utilized her expertise in that area to effect change throughout the Cook County court system, specifically serving as Chairman of the Cook County Integrated Criminal Justice Information System (CCICJIS) Committee, for which she created a blueprint for integrating systems amongst the Chicago, Cook County, and Illinois justice stakeholders; and
WHEREAS, Hon. Dorothy Brown created the nationally recognized Second Chance Expungement Summit in 2005, and hosted this community-based service event for 16 years; thereby, helping thousands of individuals access the legal processes for clearing past criminal records and becoming employed and productive members of society; and
WHEREAS, Hon. Dorothy Brown also pursued an aggressive legislative strategy since taking Office, promoting and supporting major legislation that improved the operations and revenues for all clerks of court in the State of Illinois, as well as new laws that directly benefited the citizens of the State of Illinois in the areas of practical Child Support legislation, meaningful expungement and sealing bills, and amendments that improved the quality of life of many; and
WHEREAS, the Cook County Judiciary and Cook County Board are grateful for the wonderful service provided to the residents of Cook County by the Hon. Dorothy Brown, who has a heart for the people and an unwavering commitment to serve; and
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the President and the Cook County Board of Commissioners, on behalf of the 5.2 million residents of Cook County, hereby recognize and honor the Hon. Dorothy Brown, Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County, on 20 years of innovative public service to the residents of Cook County; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that a suitable copy of this Resolution be spread upon the official proceedings of this Honorable Body and that an official copy of same be tendered to the Honorable Dorothy Brown.
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