Cook County has been giving felony records to people who shouldn’t have them

For at least three years, a data error has caused chaos in the lives of people who were promised a clean record if they served probation.

SHARE Cook County has been giving felony records to people who shouldn’t have them
The George N Leighton Criminal Courthouse at 2650 S California Ave.

The George N Leighton Criminal Courthouse at 2650 S California Ave.

Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

Malcolm, a Chicago man in his 20s, had a solid job and was proud he could provide for his kids. But one day his supervisor called him in and told him he was fired.

The company, a big-box retailer, had run a background check and saw Malcolm had a felony on his record. (Malcolm is a pseudonym WBEZ is using at his request to protect his identity and future employment prospects.)

Malcolm was shocked. He had been arrested for a low-level, nonviolent felony about two years earlier, but agreed to participate in a diversion program that would preserve his clean criminal record and keep the felony off it. There had been some sort of error.

It was not an anomaly. Cook County has been wrongly putting felonies on the records of people in some diversion programs for at least three years.

With the erroneous felony on his record, Malcolm’s life quickly unraveled. Without work he could not afford housing and began sleeping on the street, tucked into the doorways of buildings. He’d built his identity around being a provider for his family, and now he was having trouble even feeding himself. He slipped into a deep depression.

“I wouldn’t wish that on nobody,” he said.

Diversion programs are a pact — a promise of sorts.

The “second chance program,” which Malcolm agreed to be a part of, is available to people charged with nonviolent offenses who have no previous felony record.

In return for keeping a felony off his record, Malcolm agreed to probation. He had to submit to monthly drug tests, complete 80 hours of community service, regularly meet with his probation officer and stay employed.

He’d kept his end of the bargain and was devastated when he found out the county had not. He called his lawyer, assistant Cook County public defender Amber Klinge.

Klinge quickly discovered that her other clients in the “second chance” diversion program also had felonies wrongly stamped on their records. So did her clients in another diversion program, the “first-time weapon’s offender program,” for nonviolent weapon possession charges.

“It made me feel really physically ill,” Klinge said.

Documents obtained through a public record’s request show the public defender’s office has been trying to get the office of Cook County Clerk of Court Iris Martinez to fix the problem since at least September 2022.

“Until and unless this happens, all persons in Cook County who have been given the opportunity to find jobs, housing and education without the stigma of a felony conviction are being denied that chance,” public defender Sharone Mitchell, wrote in a follow-up letter to clerk of court staff in February.

But there has been confusion and lots of back-and-forth between county officials about who is responsible for the problem and how to fix it.

Mitchell’s February letter summarized a meeting in which Martinez’s office committed to creating a new way to enter data and correct the issue. Contacted for this story, James Murphy-Aguilú, the chief of staff for Martinez, originally agreed the clerk’s office was responsible, and he claimed it would fixed it.

But when WBEZ asked him about Malcolm’s record, which still shows a conviction, Murphy-Aguilú changed his statement.

He then pointed to Cook County Chief Judge Tim Evans as being responsible.

“Ultimately, we have to take our orders from the chief judge’s office,” Murphy-Aguilú said.

Evans’ office did not respond to the accusations, but since WBEZ began asking questions, now Evans and Martinez both say they’ve agreed on a solution to ensure felony records are not entered incorrectly.

Murphy-Aguilú said the county clerk’s office would immediately begin the process of correcting past records, which he expected to be completed by the end of next week, but he was unable to say how many people’s records needed to be corrected.

But even if the county corrects the issue, the problem is expected to linger. Third parties routinely pull government records to do background checks, so information about these false felonies is already out in the world, living on databases the clerk of court cannot correct.

Klinge said now when her phone rings, she always worries it’s going to be a client who has had a conviction wrongly added to their clean criminal record.

“I always answer real quick. They don’t live with a lot of extra money in their bank accounts. … They don’t have a cushion. They rely on paycheck to paycheck,” she said. “And then all of a sudden, that promise is broken, all of a sudden, the rug is taken out from under them.”

Malcolm now has a new job, where he has already received a promotion. He’s been able to get housing again and is rebuilding his life. When he talks about it, he smiles.

“I haven’t been going through my depression issues ever since I got this job. I’ve been at peace within myself,” he said.

But the peace is precarious. Malcolm lives in terror the false record will show back up, and he will have to start all over again.

The Latest
Women make up just 10% of those in careers such as green infrastructure and clean and renewable energy, a leader from Openlands writes. Apprenticeships and other training opportunities are some of the ways to get more women into this growing job sector.
Chatterbox doesn’t seem aware that it’s courteous to ask questions, seek others’ opinions.
The way inflation is measured masks certain costs that add to the prices that consumers pay every day. Not surprisingly, higher costs mean lower consumer confidence, no matter what Americans are told about an improving economy.
With Easter around the corner, chocolate makers and food businesses are feeling the impact of soaring global cocoa prices and it’s also hitting consumers.