On Nov. 1 a federal judge decided to end decades-long patronage hiring oversight of the Cook County assessor’s office. Cronyism and patronage remain in Illinois, despite some government offices escaping federal court oversight.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker argues his state agencies no longer need a federal minder to ensure hiring is not political. That federal watchdog has four recent examples of why state hiring still needs oversight.

The lawyers who over 50 years ago started the fight against political patronage in Springfield and Chicago are arguing Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration is not ready to lose federal oversight of hiring. Efforts to hide hiring records prove that point, they said.

The federal court system has been watching Illinois for patronage hiring since 1972. There’s little evidence the problem is fixed.