With little fanfare, Shakman era ends as Cook County clerk’s office is released from court oversight of hiring

Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough. In her role as county recorder and in her tenure as clerk, Yarbrough has faced frequent allegations of patronage hiring. (Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times(file))

At a hearing that lasted barely 10 minutes, a federal judge released Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough from court oversight of hiring and promotions in her office, ending a 54-year-old lawsuit that led to a sea change in Illinois politics and largely ended patronage hiring.

The order was lifted by U.S. District Judge Edmond Chang, the sixth judge to preside over the lawsuit filed in 1969 by Michael Shakman, a reform-minded Democrat who claimed the army of patronage workers holding government jobs thwarted his bid to become a delegate to a constitutional convention.