Office History

History of The Assessor's Office

The Cook County Assessor's Office has existed in its present form since 1932. Prior to that, assessments in Cook County were completed by a Board of Assessors.

The 40th Illinois General Assembly enacted a law, approved February 25, 1898, which created a Board of Assessors in counties containing 125,000 or more inhabitants. The Board consisted of five members, no more than four of whom could be residents of any one city.

The Board existed until a special session of the 57th General Assembly met early in 1932. There appeared to be a delay in Cook County of about fourteen months in determining the 1931 assessment. It was determined that the structure of assessment administration in Cook County, which included the five member Board of Assessors and a three member Board of Review, needed to be reorganized.

On February 13, 1932, the General Assembly approved a law which provided that in counties of 250,000 or more, the Governor and the Presidents of those counties' Boards of Commissioners, would appoint an Assessor. That person was to hold office until the first Monday in December, 1932, or until a successor was elected. The election of the Cook County Assessor was scheduled to take place in November, 1934, and every fourth year thereafter. When the newly elected Assessor assumed office, both the Board of Assessors and the Cook County Board of Review were abolished.

Past Cook County Assessors

• Joseph Berrios - Assessor From: 2010-2018
• James Houlihan - Assessor From: 1997-2010
• Thomas C. Hynes - Assessor From: 1978-1997
• Thomas M. Tully - Assessor From: 1974-1978
• P.J. Cullerton - Assessor From: 1958-1974
• John McGuane - Assessor From: 1958 -1958
• Frank Keenan - Assessor From: 1954-1958
• John S. Clark - Assessor From: 1934-1954
• J.L. Jacobs - Assessor From: 1932 to 1934