Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough hospitalized for 'serious medical condition'

Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough is in the hospital being treated for a medical condition her spokesperson described as serious but did not elaborate on Tuesday, citing the family's wishes for privacy.

The 73-year-old Maywood Democrat "has been hospitalized with a serious medical condition and is currently undergoing medical treatment," said Sally Daly, the deputy clerk of communications, in an emailed statement. "Her family is requesting privacy, and we ask for prayers for the Clerk and her family at this difficult time."

Daly did not share when Yarbrough was hospitalized or what the condition is. Chief Deputy Clerk Cedric Giles is managing the office's day-to-day responsibilities in the meantime, Daly said.

Yarbrough is the first Black person and first woman to serve as Cook County clerk. She has served in elected office for over two decades, including as the Cook County recorder of deeds and a state representative.

She's also active in Democratic Party politics, working for both the Cook County Democratic Party and Democratic Party of Illinois. She is a committeeperson representing west suburban Proviso Township for the Cook County party, where she is also the treasurer. She’s a member of the state central committee for Illinois party.

Yarbrough has said helping people is what she finds most exciting about elective office and her party positions.

“I think people get energy from other people,” Yarbrough told the Sun-Times in a 2020 interview.

But her tenure has not been without criticism.

Yarbrough has been criticized for her close party ties. A government watchdog accused Yarbrough of “an illegal patronage employment system,” leading to a federal monitor being ordered for the clerk’s office.

She has said the allegations against her are “purely personal," and last year a judge released her from court oversight of hiring and promotions in her office.

She also insisted in 2020 she doesn’t blur lines, the Sun-Times reported at the time.

“I walk the line,” Yarbrough said. “I know what my job is, I do my job, and I don’t mix the politics with my job.”

Yarbrough's duties as clerk include overseeing elections and safeguarding birth and death certificates and other public county records.

She normally presides over Cook County's first marriage of the year, but she missed this year’s ceremony because she was out sick, Daly said at the time.

During her 2022 reelection campaign, Yarbrough touted her efforts to modernize the voting process in the clerk's elections unit by adding new touch screen equipment and introducing a new voter registration and election management system.

She told the Sun-Times at the time the “guiding mission of her office was accuracy, efficiency and advocacy.”