Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County

I just read another review referring to the same person I have an issue with. Bahlti (I believe is how you spell her name). Don’t bother calling asking a question, because she will cut you off and give you the run around just because she doesn’t want to spend an extra 5 seconds doing her job. I have to call and schedule things here as part of my job on a regular basis and she is terrible to deal with. I don’t even know how you are qualified to get a job when you have such horrible people skills. It’s not just her, all Cook County people are just awful to deal with, especially the ones at the Daley Center. They hang up on you, give you inaccurate info, etc. I would say accomplishing anything in Cook County is like pulling teeth, but it is worse and more difficult than that… I would describe it as: trying to milk a cat… Impossible. They send you jumping through hoop after hoop. I once tried to get a fax number for a Judge and was told «No, he don’t got one.» You mean he DOESN’T have one? The people sound very unprofessional, uneducated, and well, stupid to be quite frank. Who is in charge of hiring and managing these people? At least I am used to dealing with this and it’s part of my job, but for the random citizens who attempt to accomplish anything involving Cook County, I feel very sorry for you. You are not alone!

This is an awful, awful place because of the clerks who work here. I am an attorney who has had to deal with the clerks here on multiple occassions, so I am exremely familiar with the lousy attitudes and complete incompetence of the staff. Some are better than others, but most are the most grumpy, nasty, and depressed people I have ever met, particularly the ones that work at the civil desk. If this were a private company with any kind of accountability none of these people would still be employed. The thought that their paychecks come from my taxpayer dollars disgusts me to my core.
The worst part about it is you can’t avoid them. Unlike a business, where there is competition, you’re stuck trying to deal with these awful people if you have to file something in this district. I’ve filed things in almost every courthouse in northern Illinois and none of the other clerks I’ve dealt with come close to the level of incompetence and poor attitude of these clerks, not even the ones downtown! I once saw someone screaming and cussing them out and having a huge meltdown and the only thing I could think was I was surprised I hadn’t seen it happen before. I’ve been close to losing my cool with them so many times, and I’m generally a very easy going person. It’s like they go out of their way to make things as difficult and frustrating as possible.
E-​file, file by mail, do anything you can to avoid this place.

I had the good fortune to have to show up for my very first jury duty EVER (not sure how I’ve managed to go this long without ever getting a summons in the mail) last week. I was so relieved that it was for Rolling Meadows rather than 26^th/​California or some other horrible locale. I was a standby so I didn’t think I’d actually have to go but believe it or not, when I called the number after 4:30pm the day before (not much time to plan for it), wouldn’t you know, my last name was one of the eight letters of the alphabet that needed to go.
The next morning, when I exited route 53 onto Euclid or whatever I was on, there were signs for the courthouse everywhere EXCEPT for where you actually turn into the parking lot. So I drove right past it. I then turned right at the next street (Wilke?) and got kind of lost in some random residential area with culdesacs and curvy streets. I finally found my way back to Wilke (?) from whence I came and began to turn into the first, what appeared to me, entrance to the courthouse. I then saw it was that way was for «authorized vehicles only.» So I turned left onto Euclid (?) and headed back the way I came. I think at this point, headed the opposite direction, there was another sign. I couldn’t even tell where the front of the damn place was.
So I finally found where the parking garage was, which is VERY nice by the way, and not that crowded! Now, my «home» courthouse is Maybrook which is just a disgusting, miserable, overly crowded hellhole. I described this place as being like the Four Seasons by comparison.
There were tons of parking spots available (and of course I ended up forgetting where I parked and had to wander around for 10 minutes trying to find my car later). There was also no line for security. I was called «honey» by one sheriff’s deputy and «sweetie» by another. Umm, what???
I had to ask a very nice police officer where the jury room was. Once I found it, I was rather impressed. Like I said before, I’d never done jury duty before but I cannot for the life of me imagine Maybrook or 26^th/​Cal being that nice. It looked like a lounge. There was a couch, two tv’s, a «quiet room» multitude of vending options (though I had no coins or cash on me), board games, cards, a collection of magazines…
We also got an hour and a half break for lunch, which I spent half of at the very new looking Subway two minutes down the street and the other half sitting in my car charging my phone.
The bad part was that I literally just sat there for five hours doing NOTHING. And I had cramps so bad with no medication so that was pretty much all I could think about as I tried to read my book.
Oh, on the lunch break, I stopped by their clerk’s office to say hi to someone I know who works there. As I was straining my vision to find her, one of the guys who also works there said to me «You look lost» and was so kind in alerting the person whom I was visiting to my presence. At Maybrook, all I’d get would be a glare and probably yelled at.
I couldn’t believe how nice everyone I encountered was. Had I been there as a defendant, I’m sure it could possibly have been a very different experience but as a «juror,» it was awesome. If I ever get «summoned» again, I want to go there!

follow up… the defendant spent 10 days in jail because this was her 3^rd time with never having a license. She could have gotten 6 months if it had gone to trial but she took the plea bargain (yes that was a big bargain). I wish to thank the court and the judge for all of the time they spent on this case.

I am no stranger to this courthouse since I have lived in the same area for over 15 years and have had quite a few tickets. However, I have never had any problems with resolving any issues here. In fact, despite the hundreds of dollars I have contributed to this establishment :) I still have yet to have a negative experience. This morning a woman from the upstairs level «Michelle» was the most helpful person! She is the only reason I am Unilocaling about R. Meadows. She really went above and beyond to help me and saved me probably over an hour of waiting after court session. I am very confident no one else would have gone out of their way to do so as she did. She works very quickly and efficiently and seemed very knowledgeable. By the way, all those negative comments about people not speaking English is irrelevant; just like the DMV or even the restaurant that you go to eat at most likely you are being helped by someone with an ethnic background. Thanks.

I was a speeder. I admit it, I drove 15 miles over the speed limit in Elk Grove Village and they caught me. It was a mistake and I regret breaking the law. I was in a hurry (like everyone else) and overlooked the speed limit sign. After my $ 120 ticket, I don’t plan on making a mistake like this again.
So, I waited until the last possible day to pay my fine without a court date and even though I was a procrastinator, the clerk’s office treated me kindly and took care of taking my payment quickly. I made it in and out in less than twenty minutes. My drive to and from their building took me longer, so I have no complaints, but honestly hope that I never have to visit them again.

This place is full of lamewads and cook county cronies, wouldn’t recommend coming here for anything

I agree with Vanessa. I wish I would have read her review before pleading not guilty to a speeding ticket. My 75 dollar ticket mysteriously grew to 260 dollars. I wish they gave that warning before they give the option of pleading not guilty.
If you have the option and you do not have strong evidence, such as photos, then just pay the fine and go to traffic school. The judge will have no compassion despite the fact that I am sure he/​she has violated the speeding limits many times.

Were you hoping to see justice get served? Then you’ve come to the wrong place my friend. You’ve come to the original home for corruption, I hope you brought cash.
Without getting into too much detail, because my blood pressure is finally coming down, I went in with a total BS moving violation, somehow waived my right to traffic school by pleading not guilty, and walked out with a conviction and $ 185 in fines from a $ 75 ticket WTF? Oh and this is after the Officer had been found to be lying, seriously.
I felt like I was in the Twilight Zone, people were saying that the were going to write complaints, haha, we’re in Cook County save your pen’s ink.
To top it all off, I went to pay, because you must as soon as your bullshit verdict is announced, and there is a 4% credit card machine fee — except there is no credit/​debit card machine so you must pay cash or check, oh and there’s no ATM in the building.
I had to laugh to keep me from crying. Heed my advice — Get pulled over by a Trooper, just pay the ticket and take the hit on your record, you’ll just pay more later. — You’re guilty even when you’re innocent.