In furtherance of President Preckwinkle’s efforts to ensure the health and safety of Cook County residents and its workforce, and to prevent the further spread of the COVID-19 virus, the Cook County Department of Human Rights and Ethics will be closed March 18– 31, 2020.
Any deadlines for the filing of complaints, required responses to requests for information, and other deadlines related to the investigation and adjudication of cases by the Commission on Human Rights or the Ethics Commission will be tolled during this time. Similarly, if the Department remains closed beyond March 31, 2020 the deadlines as noted previously will be extended until such time as the office reopens. The Department will be monitoring all voicemail and email messages to our office. Thank you for your understanding and support during these very difficult times.
About the Board of Ethics
The Cook County Board of Ethics is responsible for enforcing the Cook County Ethics Ordinance. The Ethics Ordinance requires all Cook County officials and employees to abide by a Code of Conduct which sets forth general directives to ensure fair and honest government in Cook County. The Code of Conduct applies to officials, employees, persons doing or seeking to do business with the County, persons regulated by the County, persons seeking official action by the County and lobbyists. It covers the following areas:
gifts and proper disclosure of gifts
conflicts of interest
improper influence
dual employment
confidential information
county-owned property
campaign contributions
nepotism
post-employment restrictions
political activity
The Board enforces the Code of Conduct by investigating complaints of Ordinance violations and conducting related audits, issuing advisory opinions and providing other ethics advice, and designing and delivering ethics and other types of training sessions.
