This research brief, based primarily on analysis of a year's worth of pretrial data from 78 Illinois counties (6 urban and 72 rural), explores how   rural counties’ experiences under the Pretrial Fairness Act differ, both from   one another and from those of urban counties.

Pretrial Reform in Rural Illinois

Beginning September 18, 2023, the Pretrial Fairness Act fundamentally altered pretrial practices in Illinois. What can we say about the workings and effects of the new law at the one-year point?

The First Year of the Pretrial Fairness Act

This new analyses of Illinois arrest and prison admission data by age documents a steep statewide decline since 2010 in arrests and prison sentences for individuals 18-24.