Cash Bail

Wednesday marks one year since Illinois ended cash bail.

Jail populations are down and there's no change in failure to appear rate, an analysis shows.

Chief Judge Andrew Gleeson said the numbers may drop in the next eight weeks but he doesn’t expect that to continue. A jail spokesman said the jail population could even increase in the long term.

Illinois became the first state in the country to abolish cash bail on Monday, but the courts remained slow in the Metro East.

When Illinois becomes the first U.S. state to abolish cash bail, it could set off a surge in electronic monitoring to the fear of the law’s most fervent supporters.

State lawmakers passed and the governor signed the criminal justice reform back in 2021. Originally scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1, 2023, lawsuits slowed the SAFE-T Act's enactment. The legislation includes the elimination of cash bail.

Experts say the doomsday scenarios surrounding the controversial criminal justice reform aren’t likely to materialize. But big changes are coming.

Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Mary Jane Theis said the decision was made due to “the anticipated volume of investigations and hearings on pretrial detention” when bail reform goes into effect Sept. 18.

Partisan 5-2 ruling says state’s constitution does not guarantee right to monetary bail.

Illinois' high court put the SAFE-T Act criminal justice reform — short for Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity-Today — on hold in December just hours before it was scheduled to take effect. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court heard arguments in the case.