Building a better bond court

This October marks two years since Civic Consulting Alliance and our partners began helping to address issues in Cook County's criminal justice system, including revamping Cook County Central Bond Court. We have been working with Cook County's criminal justice Stakeholders—the Cook County Board President, Sheriff, Chief Judge, State's Attorney, Public Defender, Clerk, the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts, and the Illinois Supreme Court—to reduce the detainment of non-violent individuals.

As a result of this collaboration, 2,400 fewer people are detained every day in Cook County Jail and nearly half of all individuals are released from Bond Court without having to post a money bail, compared to Bond Court proceedings two years ago.

This collaboration has included seven projects and eight partners since its start. As one example, this summer, CannonDesign, in partnership with Civic Consulting and the Kellogg School of Management, worked with the Stakeholders and former detainees to understand the challenges created by the current physical design of the courtroom.

The team identified several factors that prevent judges from receiving the information needed to make well-informed, fair decisions and that limit the public's understanding of court proceedings. CannonDesign then created designs to address the physical problems and transform the courtroom into an environment that commands dignity and decorum and facilitates better decision-making.

The Stakeholders all agreed to the proposed changes, and construction of the new courtroom is scheduled to begin later this year.

By changing the physical courtroom design, we hope to improve trust and mutual respect between everyone in the courtroom, ensure judges receive the information they need to make fair bond decisions, and ultimately improve outcomes for detainees.

"The redesign of the Central Bond Court presented us with a compelling, challenging design problem, which affects many of our fellow citizens on a daily basis," said Delia Conache, a project architect at CannonDesign. "Our team greatly enjoyed the close partnership with Civic Consulting Alliance over the course of the project, as well as the close collaboration with the stakeholder agencies involved."