Knox County officials say they're prepared for the end of cash bail
When the Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity-Today (SAFE-T) Act takes effect Monday, it will change the way law enforcement will conduct arrests, as well as changing the criminal prosecution process.
“It’s a whole new system for how we deal with individuals, from arrest to the conclusion of the case,” said Knox County State’s Attorney Jeremy Karlin.
Karlin said that whether a defendant in Knox County will be detained before trial will no longer depend on an individual’s ability to post a cash bond, but rather on the level of danger the individual poses to the community.
Police will issue citations and notices to appear in court for traffic violations and Class B or C misdemeanors. Class A misdemeanors will be processed at the Knox County Jail, where individuals who have committed non-detainable offense will receive notices to appear.
“Initially, what will happen is that as people are held in the jail, at least temporarily, we need to make a decision as to whether or not we intend to detain them during the pre-trial process,” Karlin added. “If we do so, we have to file a petition requesting that. Then there has to be a hearing within 24 to 48 hours of that request.”
To address the challenges that implementing the SAFE-T Act presents to law enforcement, the Knox County State’s Attorney’s Office has been conducting training via Zoom meetings since early August for Knox County courthouse staff, local law enforcement personnel and Knox County Jail staff.
The office has also developed a handbook containing all the forms attorneys would use in court under the SAFE-T Act.
“(The handbook) has been vetted by our judges and the public defender,” Karlin said. “When the SAFE-T Act comes into effect, we won’t be fighting over the forms or having discussions about whether or not people should be detained.”
Even as Knox County prepares for the implementation of the end of cash bail, Karlin noted that there has been at least some pushback statewide. He was one of 62 State’s Attorneys who filed suit with the Illinois Supreme Court to declare the Safe-T Act unconstitutional.
“The reason I did it was not because I'm because against the SAFE-T Act,” he said. “I believe firmly that whether you sit in jail or not should not depend on the size of your bank account, but I did believe that there were significant constitutional questions that needed to be answered by the Illinois Supreme Court and I wanted them answered in one comprehensive case to involve all the states attorneys, as opposed to dealing with it in a case-by-case manner.”
This article originally appeared on Pekin Daily Times: End of cash bail means changes to Knox County court system
