'Dramatic' increase in pretrial release appeals causes high court to create task force

The Illinois Supreme Court is forming a new task force consisting of justices from each of the five state appellate courts to review appeals of pre-trial detention cases brought before their courts.

The court cited a "dramatic" increase in the number of pre-trial release appeals since the Pretrial Fairness Act came into effect in September from circuit courts across the state as the rationale for forming the new Pretrial Release Appeals Task Force, which will have its first meeting within the next two weeks.

Data from the court shows that 1,376 appeals were filed in the final four months of 2023, with the Fourth Appellate District – including Sangamon County – making up 32% of all appeals.

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Justice Eugene Doherty of the Fourth District will chair the new commission alongside Justice David Ellis of the First Appellate District (Chicago and Cook County), Justice Margaret Mullen of the Second Appellate District (Kane, Lake, McHenry, Kendall and DeKalb counties), Justice Lance Peterson of the Third Appellate District (DuPage, Will, LaSalle, Kankakee, Iroquois, Grundy and Bureau counties) and Justice Mark Boie of the Fifth Appellate District (most of southern Illinois).

Those justices are tasked with reviewing pre-trial appeals and their impact on each of the five appellate districts. They will also consult with related parties, such as the Illinois Attorney General's Office, the State's Attorney Appellate Prosecutor's Office, the State Appellate Defender's Office, each of the five appellate court clerks and the Illinois Appellate Lawyer's Association to get their thoughts on the current situation.

The task force will issue a report of their findings to the Supreme Court within 45 days.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Rise in pre-trial appeals leads to Illinois Supreme Court task force