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.
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?
We compared jail booking and average daily jail population data for the periods immediately before and after the effective date of the Illinois Pretrial Fairness Act, and found that both bookings and average populations had declined beyond what would have been expected due to normal seasonal fluctuations.
A little over a month after the Illinois Pretrial Fairness Act went into effect, we summarize some preliminary observations on the rollout of the new law.
We explore how important monetary bail is as a source of restitution for victims of crime and whether the elimination of monetary bail will have the unintended consequence of reducing compensation for victims.
Practitioner interviews suggest that bail is imposed for a broader range of purposes than is usually articulated, at least in public. Our analyses of available data show that bail’s practical results are different from those that are widely assumed. And our conversations with defendants—people who know the pretrial system from inside—have surfaced beliefs and perceptions about bail that are both disturbing and important.
Most people pass through jails, being held for relatively short periods before bonding out—and that includes people charged with the kinds of serious offenses that are designated “detainable” under the PFA.
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 PFA.