Some call Cook County, Illinois the country’s wrongful conviction capital. The National Registry of Exonerations (NRE) shows Cook County leads the nation with the most exonerations: 488 as of July 2025.
The county also has the second highest rate of exonerations among large counties: 9.59 per 100,000, just behind Orleans Parish in Louisiana.
The NRE report found one reason why Cook County has so many is that the State’s Attorney’s Office has an active Conviction Integrity Unit…