You can look up criminal cases in Cook County two ways: free online through the Clerk of the Circuit Court’s case search portal, or in person at any Cook County courthouse. Either route uses the same database. The fastest search is by case number, but the defendant’s full legal name works too.1Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County. On-line Case Information
Court records in Illinois are not covered by the state Freedom of Information Act. They are presumed accessible instead under Illinois Supreme Court Rule 8 and related rules, with the Clerk of the Circuit Court acting as the official custodian for Cook County.1Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County. On-line Case Information
What To Have Before You Search
A case number pulls up a file instantly. Cook County criminal case numbers use a set format: the last two digits of the filing year, then “CR,” then a seven-digit sequence. A case filed in 2025 looks like 25-CR-1234567.2Circuit Court of Cook County. General Order 6.2 – Numbering of Actions
Without a case number, you’ll need the defendant’s full legal name. A middle initial helps when the surname is common, and a date of birth confirms you’re looking at the right person.
Knowing the municipal district narrows things further. Cook County divides its judicial operations across six geographic districts: the First Municipal District covers Chicago, and the other five serve the northern suburbs (Skokie), northwestern suburbs (Rolling Meadows), western suburbs (Maywood), southwestern suburbs (Bridgeview), and southern suburbs (Markham).3Circuit Court of Cook County. Organization of the Court The district usually matches wherever the arrest or citation happened, and that location typically appears on the original paperwork.
Searching Online
The Clerk of the Circuit Court hosts a free portal at casesearch.cookcountyclerkofcourt.org. You can search by case number or by defendant name. The results come from the same system the courthouses use.1Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County. On-line Case Information
What you’ll see for a matching case is the electronic docket: a chronological log of brief summaries of documents filed and events in the case. That includes initial charges, scheduled court dates, motions, and orders entered by the judge. The docket gives you the status and progression of a case, but it does not show full images of every document in the physical file. A blank field generally means the Clerk’s master database doesn’t carry that data.1Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County. On-line Case Information
Private background-check websites also advertise Cook County criminal records, but their accuracy is uneven. For anything you need to act on, work from the Clerk’s portal or a courthouse, not a third-party aggregator.
Searching In Person
The main courthouse is the Richard J. Daley Center at 50 West Washington Street in Chicago. The five suburban courthouses sit in Skokie, Rolling Meadows, Maywood, Bridgeview, and Markham.4Cook County Government. Court Address Each has public access terminals running the same database as the online portal. The on-site kiosks sometimes surface older records that haven’t been fully digitized for the web.
For records held only in physical format, ask at the clerk’s counter and staff will retrieve the file for review on site. If you need an official copy for a legal, employment, or other formal purpose, request a certified copy, which carries the Clerk’s raised seal.
Fees for Copies and Searches
The Clerk’s office charges a $6.00 fee for each year searched in the indices, payable upfront. Certified copies are $6.00 per document, plus copying and mailing charges. Plain uncertified photocopies, under the Illinois statutory schedule, run $2.00 for the first page, $0.50 each for pages two through nineteen, and $0.25 for every page after that.5Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County. Archives Department Courthouses typically take cash, credit card, or money order.
Records You Won’t Find
Some Cook County criminal records are not available to the public, and the search system is designed to hide them completely. If a record falls into one of these categories, the portal and courthouse staff will respond as though it doesn’t exist.
Juvenile Cases
Illinois law treats juvenile records as confidential by default. Under 705 ILCS 405/1-7, juvenile law enforcement records that haven’t been expunged may not be disclosed to the general public. Access is limited to a specific list of authorized parties, and anyone else needs a court order showing good cause.6Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 705 ILCS 405/1-7 – Confidentiality of Juvenile Law Enforcement and Municipal Ordinance Violation Records
Sealed and Expunged Records
Expungement and sealing work differently. Expungement destroys the records or returns them to the petitioner and removes the person’s name from official indices. Sealing keeps the file intact but blocks public access without a court order, while leaving the record available to law enforcement and certain authorized agencies. For both, if someone not authorized by law asks, the responding agency must answer as if no record ever existed.
Victim-Protected Information
In cases involving domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking, the Violence Against Women Act bars the entry of victims’ personally identifying information into public records and databases without informed, written, time-limited consent. Documents in those cases may appear partially or fully redacted in public search results.
Impounded and Restricted Files
Beyond those categories, Illinois Supreme Court Rule 8 lets a court restrict access to specific cases or documents by classifying them as impounded, confidential, sealed, or expunged. The Clerk enforces those restrictions through access codes, and remote online access is further limited to what the Illinois Supreme Court Remote Access Policy allows. A case that’s visible at a courthouse terminal may therefore be hidden from the public web portal.
If You’re Looking Because of a Background Check
Many people search Cook County criminal cases after an employer’s background report flagged something. If an employer plans to reject you based on a background check, the Fair Credit Reporting Act requires them to give you a copy of the report and a written description of your rights before the final decision, so you can review the findings and flag errors.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681b – Permissible Purposes of Consumer Reports If the employer still moves ahead, they must then give you the name and contact information for the background check company, a statement that the company didn’t make the hiring decision, and notice of your right to dispute inaccurate information and request a free copy of your report within 60 days.8Federal Trade Commission. Using Consumer Reports: What Employers Need to Know
If the report attributes a Cook County case to you that isn’t yours, shows charges without a disposition, or reflects a record that was sealed or expunged, you can dispute it. Request your complete file from the company that ran the check; they must provide it in a format that helps you identify inaccuracies, including all sources. Put the specific errors in writing and submit the dispute to the reporting company, which then must reinvestigate and correct or delete anything inaccurate, incomplete, or unverifiable. You don’t need legal jargon to do this.9Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. CFPB Addresses Inaccurate Background Check Reports and Sloppy Credit File Sharing Practices If the company doesn’t fix the error, you can file a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau at consumerfinance.gov/complaint.