Cook County Shakman-Exempt Positions, By Department

Cook County’s list of Shakman-exempt positions — jobs in which, by the county’s own description, political affiliation may be considered in hiring — holds 454 positions, and 111 of them, 24.4 percent, list no incumbent. The Office of the President has the most, 50, with no incumbent listed for 17 of them; each of the 17 district offices of the Cook County Board of Commissioners has four.

Human Resources — Shakman Exempt Positions (6ybd-qcyy), Cook County, retrieved September 18, 2026; last updated September 17, 2026 · the list as it stood that day, with no dates for when positions joined it · incumbent names never read, only whether each incumbent field is blank · salary grades, not pay

What the list is

The county’s own description of the list explains it. Following a federal lawsuit brought by Michael Shakman and others against the Democratic Organization of Cook County (No. 69 C 2145, Northern District of Illinois), most county hiring may not take any political reason or factor into consideration, the description says, but some positions are exempt: those that involve policy making to an extent, or are confidential in such a way, that political affiliation is an appropriate consideration. This list holds the current positions the county considers exempt. Each entry gives a department, a job title linked to its written description, a salary grade and an incumbent field for the name of the person filling it.

Where the exempt positions sit

Every position on the list as retrieved September 18, 2026. “No incumbent listed” counts positions whose incumbent field is blank; the list does not say whether each is open, being filled or simply not updated.
Department, as the list names it	Exempt positions	No incumbent listed
Office of the President	50	17
Asset Management	26	6
Department of Labor Relations	24	10
Enterprise Technology	24	5
Transportation and Highways	22	12
Office of the Chief Administrative Officer	20	4
Justice Advisory Council	18	3
Office of Chief Financial Officer	18	3
Office of Economic Development	18	1
Office of the Chief Procurement Officer	17	2
Comptrollers Office	16	7
Department of Emergency Management and Regional Security	14	3
Office of Chief Human Resources Officer	13	6
Budget and Management Services	11	0
Environment and Sustainability	11	4
Planning and Development	10	1
Department of Human Resources	9	3
Facilities Management	8	3
Human Rights and Ethics	8	1
Secretary to the Board	8	0
Revenue	6	1
Risk Management	6	1
Building and Zoning	5	1
Animal and Rabies Control	4	1
Office of Medical Examiner	4	1
Administrative Hearings	3	1
Finance Committee	3	2
Auditor	2	0
Enterprise Resource Planning	2	0
Law Library	2	0
Zoning Board of Appeals	2	1
Geographical Information Systems or Project Management	1	0
Land Bank Authority	1	0
The 17 Board of Commissioners district offices, four each	68	11
All positions	454	111

The Office of the President leads with 50 positions. The 17 district offices of the Board of Commissioners hold 68 between them, four apiece, and every one of the 68 carries the same two titles: Aide to the Commissioner I (38) or Aide to the Commissioner II (30). Beyond the President’s office and the Board of Commissioners’ offices, none of the county’s separately elected offices — the Sheriff, the Assessor, the Clerk and the Treasurer among them — appears among the list’s departments.

Where no incumbent is listed

Among departments with at least 10 exempt positions, Transportation and Highways lists no incumbent for the largest share: 12 of its 22, or 54.5 percent. The Department of Labor Relations lists none for 10 of 24 and the President’s office none for 17 of 50. Budget and Management Services is the only department of that size with an incumbent listed for every one of its 11 positions. The district offices list none for 11 of 68. A blank field is what the list shows, not a hiring record, so this page reads it as a count of positions without a listed incumbent, not as a count of open jobs.

What the jobs are called

The 454 positions carry 250 distinct titles as written. Aide to the Commissioner I (40) and II (31) are the most common, followed by Senior Legal Counsel (14), Public Relations Specialist (12), Legal Counsel (10) and Legislative Coordinator (10). The list gives each position a salary grade but no pay: 307 of the 454, 67.6 percent, are at grade 24. What a grade pays is set in the county’s salary schedules, which are not part of this file.

What the list confirms, and what it cannot tell you

Confirmed, as published: the positions on the current list, their departments, titles and grades, and whether each lists an incumbent. Not shown: when any position was added or removed, since the list carries no dates and this page reads only the version retrieved September 18; what any position pays; and who holds any of them — this page never read the incumbent names. Titles are counted as written, so a title with a department suffix, such as “- OOP,” counts apart from the same title without one.

Where the record lives

The Shakman Exempt Positions list sits on Cook County’s data portal, with each title linked to its job description. Every figure here was computed from it as retrieved on September 18, 2026.

The bottom line

Cook County names 454 positions where political affiliation may be weighed in hiring, and 111 of them list no incumbent. They run from the President’s office, with 50, to four aide positions in each Board of Commissioners district office.

Three questions the list can answer

Which department has the most exempt positions? The Office of the President, 50. How many positions list no incumbent? 111 of 454. What is the most common exempt title? Aide to the Commissioner I, with 40.

Source: Cook County’s Human Resources — Shakman Exempt Positions list (6ybd-qcyy), retrieved September 18, 2026.
Read: department, title and salary grade for every position; incumbents only as a count of blank and non-blank fields, never a name; position ids not read.
Not here: pay, dates, any person’s name, and any claim about why a position is on the list or unfilled.

Computed by KCM Desk from Cook County’s Shakman Exempt Positions list, retrieved September 18, 2026. Human-guided and edited — about this desk. If you spot an error, corrections come first.