TOWARDS A BETTER
COOK COUNTY
A Series of Ideas to Make Cook County
Government Work Better for its Residents
CURRENT MISSION: Eliminate the elected
office of the Recorder of Deeds and
merge its functions with the office of the
County Clerk
Towards a Better
Cook County
THE OPPORTUNITY

Cook County has dozens of independent administrative offices
run by separately-elected officials

Positions that are narrowly drawn and administrative in nature
provide an excellent opportunity for consolidation with another
office

We have an elected Recorder of Deeds for some public record
keeping and an elected County Clerk for other public record
keeping

Record keeping is an administrative function

8 of the 10 biggest US counties have a combined Recorder and
Clerk office

Merging the functions of the Recorder of Deeds into the Clerk’s
office will improve constituent service, reduce political and
bureaucratic inefficiency and save taxpayer dollars
SEPARATE OFFICES, OVERLAPPING MISSIONS
Budget: $28.7M
Staff: 285 employees
Mission: Public record keeper
and suburban election
administrator
Budget: $11.7M
Staff: 206 employees
Mission: Public record keeper
Key office tasks:
•Maintain official records of land
transactions
•Maintain official records of UCC, tax liens
and lien releases
•Maintain other official records such as
military discharge documents
•Collect and record transfer taxes
•Link land records to GIS data
Key office tasks:
•Maintain vital records
•Maintain other official records such as
business name documentation
•Maintain County’s property tax maps and
calculate tax rates
•Maintain legislative records, ethics filings
•Administer elections for County suburbs
• Recorders’ record keeping functions align with the Clerk’s Vital Records Bureau
• Recorders’ transfer tax functions align with the Clerk’s Tax Services Division
Note: This is a summary of each office’s key functions. It is not an exhaustive list of functions by office.
Towards a Better
Cook County
ONLY 2 OF THE 10 BIGGEST US COUNTIES
HAVE SEPARATELY ELECTED
RECORDERS OF DEEDS
County
State
Pop.
Recorder, Clerk
combined
Recorder, Clerk
elected separately
Los Angeles
CA
9.8M
X
Cook
IL
5.2M
Harris
TX
4.1M
Maricopa
AZ
3.8M
San Diego
CA
3.1M
X
Assessor/Recorder/Clerk
Orange
CA
3M
X
Clerk-Recorder
Kings
NY
2.5M
X
NY City Register
Miami-Dade
FL
2.5M
X
Clerk of the Courts (is Recorder)
*separate Clerk of the Board handles
legislative records only
Dallas
TX
2.4M
X
Clerk is Recorder
Queens
NY
2.2M
X
NY City Register
Website
Registrar-Recorder/Clerk
X
X
Recorder & Clerk separate
Clerk (is Recorder)
X
Recorder & Board Clerk separate
Towards a Better
Cook County
Towards a Better
Cook County
WHY IS MERGING OFFICES REFORM?
Better
constituent
service
•Centralized record
keeping makes the
service more user-friendly
by increasing ease of
navigation
•Reduce the number of
offices visited for record
application and retrieval
•Automating and updating
of records done by one
official
Cost savings for
taxpayers
•Civic Federation estimates
combining offices could save
$800K. (Item 31, pg. 154)
•In 2003, then-Commissioner Mike
Quigley estimated merger could
save $600K (Pg. 23)
•Based on these calculations
(which assumed additional office
consolidations) and new analysis
we estimate taxpayer savings
could approximately One Million
Dollars annually
Less politics in
government
•Cook County has 29
separately elected officials.
Larger Los Angeles County
has 8.
•8 of 10 largest counties
combine Clerk/Recorder
Sources: Quigley report, Civic Federation, LA County documentation
White Elects To Have Post Be Appointed Chicago Sun-Times January. Lou Ortiz. Pg. 34.
Chicago Sun-Times
Towards a Better
Cook County
SO HOW DO WE DO IT?
“Our government rests in public opinion.” - Abraham Lincoln


Ask the public through a County-wide
referendum.
The Cook County Board of Commissioners
must approve and adopt a resolution to
initiate the submission of this public
question.

The public question will be asked at the
November 2012 general election.

Approval by a simple majority will allow for
the offices of the County Clerk and Recorder
of Deeds to be merged before the end of 2015
Source: (10 ILCS 5/) Election Code; IL Constitution, Art. VII
We’ve done this before
in Cook County...
- 1972: A County-wide
referendum eliminated
the elected Coroner’s
Office.
- It became the Office of
the Medical Examiner; a
position appointed by the
President of the Board.
Towards a Better
Cook County
WE DID IT BEFORE...
IT HAPPENED
AGAIN!
 On August 16, 1972, the County Board
approved a resolution proposing a question
referendum be placed in the general election
ballot on November 7, 1972, calling for the
elimination of the Office of Coroner of Cook
County, replacing it with a Medical Examiner
 On January 13, 2011, in Tazewell County,
Illinois, the members of the Board approved a
resolution presenting the referendum asking
the electorate whether or not to abolish the
Recorder of Deeds Office, consolidating it with
the County Clerk’s Office
 On November 7, 1972, the voters, by an
almost 9 to 1 majority, approved the
proposition,
setting
in
motion
the
replacement of an elected office with an
appointed one.
 On April 5, 2011, 65.5% of the Tazewell
County voters approved the referendum that
calls for a consolidation to take place at the
expiration of the current Tazewell County
Recorder’s term on December 2012.
Sources: Cook County Board Journal of Procedures. Records of meetings held in August 16, 1972
and March 4, 1974. Tazwell County Board Records. Resolution approved January 13, 2011
Journal Star, “Tazewell voters abolish recorder of deeds post”. Pekin, IL. April 6, 2011
Chicago Sun-Times
Towards a Better
Cook County
HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE?
October and
November, 2011
Introduction
and approval
of County
Board
Resolution
December 2011
File
referendum
language with
County Clerk
November 6,
2012
General
Election
Inform voters of their choice to vote for
merged offices
December 5,
2012
New elected
Recorder is
sworn in
December,
2015
All functions
have been
transferred
Transition team from Clerk’s office
works with newly elected Recorder on
transfer of duties
Regular updates are posted for the
Public to know transition progress