Prairie State Wire

Cash bail for defendants charged with crimes in Illinois will soon be a thing of the past but opponents continue to suggest "mayhem will ensue" if the law getting rid of it is not reversed before it takes effect in 2023.

Under the state law known as the SAFE-T Act, the burden of proof falls on the prosecution if they believe a person charged with a crime should remain behind bars. The law states that detention shall only be imposed when it is determined that the defendant "poses a specific, real and present threat to a person or has a high likelihood of willful flight."

"This January, if nothing is done, mayhem will ensue across Illinois as alleged perpetrators held in pre-trial confinement for crimes from petty theft all the way up to murder will be let out of jail everywhere," Mike Koolidge, a spokesman for the Political Action Committee People Who Play By the Rules, said. "Any respectable legislator and state's attorneys who doesn't do something about this before then will have blood on their hands, the least of which being the man who signed this catastrophic bill into law, Democrat Gov. J.B. Pritzker."

State Sen. John Curran (R-Downers Grove) spoke about some of the issues with having to find "continued detention" necessary following the initial detention hearing, as he said on Flannery Fired Up. "The prosecutor has to identify, and the judge has to find that you pose a risk to a particular individual to continue to detain that person," as opposed to only having to prove a risk to the general public, he said.

Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow also addressed the SAFE-T Act during an Independence Day speech. 

"If that bill goes into effect, police officers' hands will be tied. What you see in Chicago, we'll have it here," Glasgow said.

He also added that defendants would't be held in jail longer than 90 days if they are seeking a trial, and after the 90th day, no matter the charge, they'd be released.

Glasgow added even if the defendant failed to show up to court after being released, he would be unable to get a warrant. 

He also said of the 640 people being held in the Will County Jail, 60 are charged with murder and "all their bonds will be extinguished on Jan. 1."