Galesburg passes resolution requesting changes to SAFE-T Act

Samuel Lisec, Galesburg Register-Mail
·4 min read
1

GALESBURG — Galesburg City Council passed a resolution Monday evening 6-1 that requests state legislators amend parts of the Illinois Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity-Today (SAFE-T) Act.

Council members Bradley Hix, Wayne Dennis, Kevin Wallace, Jaclyn Smith-Esters, Sarah Davis and Larry Cox voted in favor of the resolution. Council member Dwight White voted against the resolution.

The SAFE-T Act is a statute the Illinois state legislature passed in 2021 that is poised to enact significant changes to Illinois’ criminal justice system, particularly the abolishment of cash bail for many cases starting Jan. 1, 2023.

Though the city of Galesburg does not have any direct control over changing the SAFE-T Act, the resolution makes formal the city’s concerns that the law makes it “harder for our criminal justice system to keep repeat violent offenders off the streets” and puts “the safety of law-abiding citizens and police officers at risk.”

Numerous state’s attorneys in Illinois have also challenged the legality of the SAFE-T Act, including Knox County State’s Attorney Jeremy Karlin who filed a lawsuit against the act in October. On Nov. 2, the Illinois Supreme Court consolidated Karlin's lawsuit with similar lawsuits filed by more than half the state’s attorneys in Illinois into one case.

More:Galesburg's Orpheum Theatre open for tours

During the council meeting, First Ward City Council Member Hix said that out of Illinois’ 102 counties, 100 county state’s attorney's have moved to declare the SAFE-T Act unconstitutional. Hix also asked one of Galesburg’s city attorneys, Paul Mangieri, how the SAFE-T Act would change the current bail system.

Mangieri, a former judge, answered that under the current system, if you commit a misdemeanor your bail amount is set statutorily and if you commit a felony you are brought before a judge who determines your bail amount in relation to the felony you have been charged with.

Under the changes the SAFE-T would enact, Mangieri said, every person is to be released ahead of their trial without needing to post bail unless they have been charged with a forcible felony and the sentence for that forcible felony requires imprisonment upon conviction.

For example, burglary and residential burglary are both forcible felonies. But burglary is probational and residential burglary is not probational, so someone charged with burglary could be released without needing to post bail.

That being said, under the SAFE-T Act system if someone is charged with a forcible felony that requires imprisonment upon conviction, like first degree murder, then a bail amount would still be determined by a judge and that person would still be able to be released if they post that bail amount — just like under the current bail system.

As reflected in the resolution, Hix said he believes these changes would make Galesburg and the state less safe on Jan. 1, 2023 than they are today.

More:Galesburg raises fees, adds trash service, considers SAFE-T Act

Council members Kevin Wallace, Jaclyn Smith-Esters and Sarah Davis all echoed a similar reaction to the SAFE-T Act and city resolution: that they do not agree with every page of the SAFE-T Act and some parts should be sent back to the state legislatures to be adjusted, but there are also good parts of the act they would like to see kept, like how it would require police officers to keep their body cameras on.

Fourth Ward City Council Member Dwight White said he agrees that the SAFE-T Act has its flaws but that it also has some “outstanding” things and said the city resolution will not change anything regarding the act.

“I commit a forcible felony, if I got enough money, I'm getting out of jail,” White said. “You think the person that's going to commit this crime is poor, impotent. But there are rich people, wealthy people that commit these crimes too. They're going to get out of jail. So are you going to be any safer from them? Or are you going to be safer because there's a poor guy in jail?"

The city resolution on the SAFE-T Act was first brought to the council on Oct. 3 but it was tabled to last night’s meeting.

A previous version of the resolution stated that the city requests that the SAFE-T Act provisions be “removed, amended, or that the SAFE-T Act be repealed." The version the council passed last night only requests that the act be “amended.”

This article originally appeared on Galesburg Register-Mail: Galesburg council pushes back on SAFE-T Act