Cook County Recorder of Deeds
Former position of county recorder of deeds of Cook County, Illinois
Cook County Recorder of Deeds Term length 4 years Inaugural holder James Stewart Final holder Edward Moody Abolished December 7, 2020
The Cook County Recorder of Deeds was the recorder of deeds of county government in Cook County , Illinois until the position's abolishment in 2020.
History of office
The office was established in December 1872. Before this, the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County served as the ex-officio recorder of deeds for Cook County , Illinois .[ 1]
On November 8, 2016 , Cook County voters approved a binding referendum to eliminate the office, merging its functions into the purview of the Cook County Clerk .[ 2] The office formally ceased to exist on December 7, 2020.[ 3]
Officeholders
Recorder of Deeds
Term in office
Party
Notes
Cite
James Stewart
1872–1876
[ 4]
James W. Brockway
1876–1884
Republican
[ 4]
Abel Davis
1904–1912
Republican
Elected in 1904 and 1908
[ 5]
Joseph F. Connery
1912–
Democratic
[ 6]
Joseph F. Haas
[ 7]
Salomea Jaranowski
[ 7]
Clayton F. Smith
[ 7]
Edward J. Kaindl
[ 7]
Victor L. Schlaeger
[ 7]
Joseph T. Baran
[ 7]
Joseph F. Ropa
[ 7]
Edmund J. Kucharski
1956–1960
Republican
Elected in 1956; lost reelection in 1960
[ 8] [ 9]
Sid Olsen
December 1976–December 1984
Democratic
Elected in 1976 and 1980
Harry Yourell
December 1984–December 1, 1988
Democratic
Elected in 1984
Carol Moseley Braun
December 1, 1988–December 1, 1992
Democratic
Elected in 1988
Jesse White
December 1, 1992–January 11, 1999
Democratic
Elected in 1992 and 1996 ; resigned in January 1999 to serve as Illinois Secretary of State
Eugene Moore
January 1999–December 2012
Democratic
Appointed in January 1999; elected in 2000 , 2004 , 2008
[ 10]
Karen Yarbrough
December 2012–December 3, 2018
Democratic
Elected in 2012 and 2016
Edward Moody
December 4, 2018–December 7, 2020
Democratic
Appointed in December 2018
Recent election results
Cook County Recorder of Deeds general elections
Year
Winning candidate
Party
Vote (pct)
Opponent
Party
Vote (pct)
Opponent
Party
Vote (pct)
Opponent
Party
Vote (pct)
1984 [ 11]
Harry "Bus" Yourell
Democratic
1,232,485 (60.94%)
Deborah L. Murphy
Republican
789,906 (39.06%)
1988 [ 12]
Carol Moseley Braun
Democratic
1,020,805 (54.32%)
Bernard L. Stone
Republican
795,540 (42.33%)
Edward M. Wojkowski
Illinois Solidarity
62,968 (3.35%)
1992 [ 13]
Jesse White
Democratic
1,121,865 (58.07%)
Susan Catania
Republican
809,963 (41.93%)
1996 [ 14]
Jesse White
Democratic
1,061,436 (65.33%)
Patrick A. Dwyer
Republican
499,551 (30.75%)
Brenda Hernandez Frias
Harold Washington Party
53,421 (3.29%)
Smith Wiiams
Justice Party
10,251 (0.63%)
2000 [ 15] [ 16]
Eugene "Gene" Moore
Democratic
1,167,630 (73.01%)
Arthur D. Sutton
Republican
431,717 (26.99%)
2004 [ 17] [ 18]
Eugene "Gene" Moore
Democratic
1,283,762 (70.74%)
John H. Cox
Republican
530,945 (29.26%)
2008 [ 19] [ 20]
Eugene "Gene" Moore
Democratic
1,324,426 (70.49%)
Gregory Goldstein
Republican
451,452 (24.03%)
Terrence A. Gilhooly
Green
102,968 (5.48%)
2012 [ 21]
Karen Yarbrough
Democratic
1,313,967 (73.82%)
Sherri Griffith
Republican
466,038 (26.18%)
2016 [ 22]
Karen Yarbrough
Democratic
1,647,174 (98.58%)
Others
Write-ins
7,250 (0.81%)
References
^ Andreas, Alfred Theodore (1885). "From 1857 until the fire of 1871" . A. T. Andreas. p. 663. Retrieved December 26, 2020 .
^ "Cook County, Illinois, Merge Offices, (November 2016)" . Ballotpedia . Retrieved March 16, 2020 .
^ "Cook County Vital Records moving to county building in Chicago" . Daily Herald . November 23, 2020. Retrieved December 3, 2020 .
^ a b History of Cook County, Illinois: From the Earliest Period to the Present Time . A.T. Andreas. 1884. p. 352.
^ "Who's Who in our Citizen Soldiery - 1921" . American Hebrew . 110 : 80. December 2, 1921. Retrieved February 3, 2016 .
^ Chicago Daily News Almanac and Year-Book for 1913 . p. 532.
^ a b c d e f g Johnson, Charles B. (1960). "Growth of Cook County; a history of the large lake-shore county that includes Chicago" . [Chicago] : Board of Commissioners of Cook County. Retrieved January 3, 2021 .
^ Heise, Kenan (August 19, 1994). "COOK COUNTY GOP STALWART EDMUND J. KUCHARSKI, 78" . chicagotribune.com . Chicago Tribune. Retrieved November 5, 2020 .
^ "Edmund Kucharski (1916-1994) - Find A Grave..." www.findagrave.com . Retrieved November 5, 2020 .
^ Eltagouri, Marwa (June 16, 2016). "Eugene Moore, former Cook County recorder of deeds, dies at 73" . nydailynews.com . New York Daily News. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved November 5, 2020 .
^ "OFFICIAL FINAL RESULTS GENERAL ELECTION COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 1984" (PDF) . voterinfo.net . Cook County Clerk. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 3, 2008.
^ "OFFICIAL FINAL RESULTS GENERAL ELECTION COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 1988" (PDF) . voterinfo.net . Cook County Clerk. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 3, 2008.
^ "OFFICIAL FINAL RESULTS GENERAL ELECTION COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 1992" (PDF) . voterinfo.net . Cook County Clerk. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 10, 2008.
^ "OFFICIAL FINAL RESULTS GENERAL ELECTION COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 1996" (PDF) . voterinfo.net . Cook County Clerk. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 2, 2008.
^ "SUBURBAN COOK COUNTY RESULTS" . voterinfonet.com . Cook County Clerk. Archived from the original on March 1, 2005.
^ "TABULATED STATEMENT OF THE RETURNS AND PROCLAMATION OF THE RESULTS OF THE CANVASS OF THE ELECTION RETURNS FOR THE GENERAL ELECTION HELD IN EACH OF THE PRECINCTS IN ALL THE WARDS IN THE CITY OF CHICAGO ON TUESDAY, NOVEMBER , 2000 A.D." (PDF) . Chicago Board of Election Commissioners. Retrieved June 18, 2020 .
^ "FINAL RESULTS SUMMARY REPORT COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS GENERAL ELECTION TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2004" (PDF) . Cook County Clerk's Office. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 23, 2020. Retrieved March 19, 2020 .
^ "TABULATED STATEMENT OF THE RETURNS AND PROCLAMATION OF THE RESULTS OF THE CANVASS OF THE ELECTION RETURNS FOR THE GENERAL ELECTION IN EACH OF THE PRECINCTS IN ALL THE WARDS IN THE CITY OF CHICAGO ON TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2004 A.D." (PDF) . Chicago Board of Elections. Retrieved March 19, 2020 .
^ "Official General Election 11/4/2008 Summary Report Cook County Unofficial Results" (PDF) . Cook County Clerk's Office. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 4, 2020. Retrieved March 16, 2020 .
^ "TABULATED STATEMENT OF THE RETURNS AND PROCLAMATION OF THE RESULTS OF THE CANVASS OF THE ELECTION RETURNS FOR THE GENERAL ELECTION IN EACH OF THE PRECINCTS IN ALL THE WARDS IN THE CITY OF CHICAGO ON TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2008 A.D." (PDF) . Chicago Board of Elections. Retrieved March 16, 2020 .
^ "Cook County and the City of Chicago Combined Summary Report General Election November 6, 2012" (PDF) . Retrieved March 16, 2020 .
^ "General Election Cook County and The City of Chicago Tuesday, November 8, 2016 Combined Summary" (PDF) . Archived from the original (PDF) on October 29, 2020. Retrieved March 15, 2020 .