CBA Record July-August 2026

Leadership Profiles

elected in 2022. Initially assigned to the Traffic Division, he became the supervising judge there before moving to the Crimi nal Pretrial Division, where he also advanced to the supervisory position. After serving in the Law Division for approximately one year, he was elected by the judiciary to be Chief Judge of Cook County. The landmark Pretrial Fairness Act (PFA) became effective in September 2023 during Chief Judge Beach’s tenure in the Crim inal Pretrial Division. The PFA, part of the SAFE-T Act, termi nates the use of money bail in Illinois. It requires that defendants be released on bond, regardless of wealth, using objective mea sures to determine whether pretrial detention is necessary to protect the public. The act’s goal is to create fairness, mitigate issues related to prejudice within the criminal system, and create objective measures for the judiciary to use when ruling on pre trial release of a defendant. As the pretrial division’s supervising judge when the PFA was being implemented, Chief Judge Beach oversaw Cook County’s administration of the novel law, for which there was no appel late guidance. The transition from money bail to the PFA was a unique opportunity for Chief Judge Beach to share his leader ship philosophy of transparency and structure across the legal system. He was involved in creating new processes for moving defendants through the initial stages of a criminal court case. The new law also required that he develop systems to coordinate the judiciary, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office, and the Sheriff’s office to ensure that defendants’ due process rights were protected. Transparency and Training Chief Judge Beach has created structures to encourage com munication, including encouraging conversations between the legislature and judiciary to help the legislature understand the mechanics of how the state’s goals will unfold in the courtroom. His goal is to “remove the black box” from decisions, so everyone can understand how decisions are being made. His goals also include streamlining the parallel systems for post-adjudication management of people in the criminal system, including creating uniformity in the misdemeanor social services program and felony probation programs so that people involved in the system can understand the expectations put upon them while also having agency in their own lives. Chief Judge Beach proudly discussed the work of the commit tee headed by Judge Mary Cay Marubio, creating a structure to

make judicial transfers more transparent and objective, provid ing agency and professional growth to the judiciary. The policy established the following: procedures for identifying judicial vacancies, including descriptions and workloads; qualifications and experience requirements; and standardization of application and review of transfers. He has also overseen the restructuring of judicial training to ensure all judges have the necessary experience (thus broadening the pool of potential judicial candidates by allowing good can didates to qualify for the bench who perhaps worked in contract law or never chaired a jury trial). He appointed Luis M. Gutier rez, a retired lieutenant colonel in the Illinois State Police, as Court Security Services Administrator, to focus on coordination with law enforcement, cybersecurity planning, and courthouse and operational security. The Office of the Chief Judge is also committed to an over haul of Cook County’s juvenile justice system. Chief Judge Beach recently created a new position of Director of Juvenile Services to oversee the Juvenile Temporary Detention Center and probation program and has worked on a massive overhaul of juvenile jus tice in Cook County to expand community involvement, rede fine leadership roles, and develop long-term operational reforms to improve outcomes for youth who interact with the system. Leadership Focus The focus of the new Chief Judge’s office is on programs and leadership that ensure judges can focus on cases before them and serve the public’s best interests. When asked for his definition of leadership or his advice to young lawyers who desire to move into leadership positions, Chief Judge Beach offered succinct advice: “Be involved in your community and bar organizations; lead when you are provided the opportunity; and don’t just come with a problem, come with a solution.”

Clare McMahon is a member of the CBA Record (GLWRULDO %RDUG DQG D SDUWQHU DW 5HHG &HQWUDFFKLR $VVRFLDWHV //& SUDFWLFLQJ IDPLO\ ODZ

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