This research brief examines trends in bond decisions in Lake County, specifically examining the number and percent of individuals receiving individual-recognizance bonds (I-Bonds), cash or deposit bonds (C/D-Bonds), and No Bail for offenses that will be detainable or non-detainable under the Pretrial Fairness Act (PFA). The analyses were produced using data provided by the Office of the Chief Judge for the Circuit Court of Lake County (Illinois’ 19th Judicial Circuit). These data include information for every individual with a case filed and processed through bond court in Lake County between January 1, 2018 and December 31, 2021. Understanding trends in current bond decisions is a starting point to estimating and planning for the potential impact of the PFA.

What Types of Bond Currently Can Be Imposed?

All individuals arrested for a felony, misdemeanor domestic battery, or violation of an order of protection in Lake County currently appear for a bond court hearing before a judge who sets bond. Bond court judges may impose one of three bond types:

Individual recognizance bond (I-Bond) for which defendants are released without having to post monetary bail
A deposit bond (D-Bond) for which defendants pay 10% of the bond amount or a cash bond (C-Bond) for which defendants pay the full value of the bond amount in order to secure release from jail
No bail in which defendants are denied bail and ordered to remain in jail.

Individuals arrested for other misdemeanors may be released on an I-Bond by a local law enforcement agency or may post a C/D-Bond at a local law enforcement agency according to a bond schedule; those unable to post the C/D-Bond set by law enforcement, may be released on an I-Bond at the discretion of law enforcement or will appear in bond court where a judge will determine bond.

Under the PFA, individuals will no longer receive D-Bonds or C-Bonds, since the PFA eliminates the use of monetary bail. Rather, the PFA requires that individuals be released on their own recognizance (with or without supervision), unless the prosecutor files a motion to detain an individual pretrial and the judge determines that detention is necessary. Essentially, there will be two possible decisions: release an individual or detain them until trial.

What Offenses Are Detainable Under the PFA?

Under the PFA, there are only two groups of individuals who are initially detainable: 1) those eligible for detention based on a “public safety” standard, and 2) those eligible for detention based on a “willful flight” standard. The public safety standard allows for the pretrial detention of individuals charged with specific, detainable offenses who are found to pose a specific, real, and present threat to any person:

specifically, individuals charged with 1) non-probationable forcible felonies and sex offenses, 2) weapon offenses (primarily illegal firearm possession), and 3) domestic violence offenses and violations of orders of protection. The willful flight standard allows for the pretrial detention of individuals shown to be a risk for willful flight from prosecution who are charged with either 1) a detention eligible offense under the public safety standard or 2) any Class 3 Felony or more serious felony offense.

Individuals charged with any other offense are non-detainable under the PFA.

How Many Individuals Are Charged with a Detainable and Non-Detainable Offenses in Lake County?

The number of individuals in Lake County charged with a detainable offense under the public safety standard remained relatively stable between 2018 and 2021. During 2018, there were 1,572 individuals who went through bond court charged with a detainable offense under the public safety standard, compared to 1,326 individuals in 2021 – a drop of 16%. In contrast, the number of individuals charged with a detainable offense under the willful flight standard decreased nearly 40%, from 1,280 individuals in 2018 to 780 individuals in 2021. The number of individuals charged with a non-detainable offense also decreased markedly – 43% – from 1,561 individuals in 2018 to 890 individuals in 2021.

What does this mean for individuals in Lake County?

In 2021, 30% of individuals charged with an offense in Lake County who went through bond court would be ineligible for initial detention under the PFA. Rather, the majority of individuals – 70% – would be detainable under the PFA – 44% detainable under the public safety standard and 26% detainable under the willful flight standard. This is largely due to the marked drop in the number of individuals charged with non-detainable offenses, rather than an actual increase in the number charged with detainable offenses. Nonetheless, if these trends continue, the majority of individuals charged with offenses in Lake County processed through bond court could be detained under the PFA.

What Are Current Bond Decisions for Individuals Charged with Detainable and Non-Detainable Offenses?

While 70% of all individuals charged with offenses and processed through bond court in 2021 would be eligible for detention under the PFA, 84% of all individuals charged and processed were, in fact, detained at their initial bond decision. In 2021, just 16% of individuals charged with an offense in Lake County and processed through bond court received an I-Bond at their initial bond decision; in other words, of the 2,996 individuals charged with a felony or misdemeanor offense in 2021 and processed through bond court, only 498 were released without having to post monetary bail. Roughly 83% of individuals received a C/D-Bond at their initial bond decision – meaning that 2,480 individuals were held pretrial and required to pay some form of monetary bail before they could be released from jail. Less than 1% of individuals – 18 individuals – received No Bail at their initial bond decision in 2021, meaning the judge required them to be held in jail until the resolution of their case or until they were released under a reconsideration of bond.

These bond decisions were slightly different across offense types. In 2021, nearly 23% of individuals charged with a non-detainable offense under the PFA received an I-Bond at their initial bond decision, 76% received a C/D-Bond, and 1% received No Bail. In contrast, just 16% of individuals charged with an offense detainable under the public safety standard received an I-Bond, 84% received a C/D-Bond, and less than 1% received No Bail. Finally, of individuals charged with an offense detainable under the willful flight standard (excluding those also detainable under the public safety standard), 11% received an I-Bond, 88% a C/D-Bond, and less than 1% received No Bail at their initial bond decision .

What does this mean for individuals in Lake County?

Of the 890 individuals charged with a non-detainable offense and processed through bond court in 2021, 202 were released at their initial bond decision – but, 679 were required to post monetary bail before release and 9 were required to be held until the resolution of their case. Under the PFA, individuals charged with non-detainable offenses cannot be detained pretrial. Thus, if the PFA had been in effect, an additional 688 individuals charged with a non-detainable offense would have been immediately released pretrial.

Estimating the impact of the PFA for individuals charged with detainable offenses is more difficult, since it is unclear how often prosecutors may file a motion to detain and how often judges may impose detention following a successful motion. The simplest estimation is that those individuals currently receiving I-Bonds will continue to be released once the PFA takes effect. Thus, of the 780 individuals charged with an offense detainable under the willful flight standard in 2021, 89 were released at their initial bond court hearing and would likely be released under the PFA. However, 688 individuals were required to post monetary bail before release and 3 were required to be held until the resolution of their case. Similarly, of the 1,326 individuals charged with a detainable offense under the public safety standard, 207 were released at their initial bond court hearing and would likely be released under the PFA. However, again, 1,113 were required to post monetary bail before release and 6 were required to be held until the resolution of their case.

Overall, in 2021, 2,996 individuals had initial bond decisions in Lake County’s bond court. Roughly 17% (498 individuals) received an I-Bond and were released pretrial. The most conservative estimate of the impact of the PFA would estimate 1,186 individuals (40%) would have been released under the PFA – all individuals currently receiving I-Bonds and those individuals charged with a non-detainable offense who currently receive a C/D-Bond or No Bail. This would assume that all individuals charged with a detainable offense who currently receive a C/D-Bond or No Bail would be detained under the PFA. While all of these individuals could be detained pretrial under the PFA, doing so would require the prosecution to file a motion to detain and prove either that the individual was a risk of willful flight or posed a threat to an identifiable person. Thus, the number of individuals actually detained under the PFA will likely be much lower.

How Much Bail Did Individuals Have to Pay to Be Released Pretrial?

Individuals receiving a C/D-Bond currently are required to pay some form of monetary bail before they can be released from jail. In 2021, individuals receiving a C/D-Bond were required to pay an average of $9,786 in monetary bail to secure release.

However, individuals charged with a non-detainable offense were required to pay an average of $6,452, while those charged with a detainable offense received markedly higher bail amounts. Specifically, individuals charged with an offense detainable under the willful flight standard were required to pay an average of $9,692 and individuals charged with an offense detainable under the public safety standard were required to pay an average of $11,897 to secure release from jail.

What does this mean for individuals in Lake County?

Under the PFA, individuals will no longer be required to post monetary bail to be released from jail pretrial. Thus, the financial burden on individual defendants who currently receive a C/D-Bond will be reduced by $9,786, on average. Again, this varies across defendants.

The 679 individuals who were charged with non-detainable offenses and received C/D-Bonds in 2021 would have had to post an average of $6,452 to be released - or a total of $4.3 million. Similarly, the 688 individuals who were charged with offenses detainable under the willful flight standard and received C/D-Bonds would have had to post an average of $9,682 to be released - or a total of $6.6 million. Finally, the 1,113 individuals who were charged with offenses detainable under the public safety standard and received C/D-Bonds would have had to post an average of $11,897 to be released - or a total of $13.3 million. The PFA will reduce these financial burdens to $0. Thus, overall, the PFA would have saved defendants and their families roughly $24.3 million in avoided bail costs in 2021 if everyone with a C/D Bond would have posted the money.

However, it is more difficult to estimate the financial and personal impact if these individuals will now be detained after the PFA. Prior to the PFA, individuals could pay monetary bail and secure release from jail. While the PFA will eliminate the financial burden of monetary bail, it may create new financial burdens as individuals who are detained under the PFA will no longer be able to pay bail to secure release and must remain in jail until either the disposition of their case or release by a judge.

Conclusion

In 2021, roughly 3,000 individuals charged with a felony or misdemeanor in Lake County went through an initial bond court hearing following arrest. The majority of these individuals – 70% – were detainable under the PFA; however, only 16% of all individuals charged received an I-Bond at their initial bond court hearing and were released pretrial. Moreover, several individuals charged with offenses that are non-detainable under the PFA also received C/D-Bonds or No Bail. If these individuals had been released pretrial as well (as required under the PFA), 40% of individuals charged in 2021 would have received an I-Bond and been released pretrial. If these patterns continue, then we may expect 40% of individuals charged in Lake County and processed through the pretrial conditions hearing to be released each year after implementation of the PFA. This, however, is a conservative estimate; to detain the remaining 60% of individuals, the prosecution would have to file a motion to detain and prove either that the individual was a risk of willful flight or posed a specific, real and present threat to another person. Thus, the percent of individuals actually detained under the PFA will likely be much lower. The elimination of cash bail will also have an immediate impact on communities. In 2021, individuals receiving C/D-Bonds would have had to post a total of $24.3 million to secure release pretrial. The PFA eliminates this financial burden. Future analyses will examine individuals’ ability to post bail and secure release; in this way, we may be able to produce a more accurate estimate of the number of people actually detained pretrial until the resolution of their case and, in turn, better estimate the financial impact on individuals.

Methodology

Using data provided by the Office of the Chief Judge for the Circuit Court of Lake County (Illinois’ 19th Judicial Circuit)., we examined all cases filed in Lake County and processed through bond court from January 1, 2018 through December 31, 2021. For each of these cases, the data were examined to determine if any of the charges would be eligible for pretrial detention under the PFA’s “public safety standard.” Within the PFA there are specific crimes enumerated that, if charged, make an individual eligible to be petitioned by the county State’s Attorney for a detention hearing, and if a hearing is granted by the judge and the judge finds that detention is appropriate, to be held in detention pretrial. Loyola identified roughly 400 specific statute references for these detainable offenses, and grouped them into three broad categories, including: 1) non-probationable forcible felonies and sex offenses, 2) weapon offenses (primarily illegal firearm possession crimes, and 3) domestic violence and violating an order of protection offenses. If a case involved any one of these charges, is was categorized as detainable under the public safety standard. If a case involved a charge classified as a Class 3 Felony or more serious (i.e., Class X, Class 1, or Class 2 Felony), but did not include any charges detainable under the public safety standard, it was categorized as detainable under the willful flight standard. If a case did not involve any charges under either set of detainable charges, it was categorized as non-detainable. To determine the bond decision, we examined only the initial bond decision in the case. Many cases have subsequent bond court hearings at which the bond may change; we did not examine those changes as we were interested in the initial decision to detain or not detain an individual.