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.
Pfa
- 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?
- How has the Pretrial Fairness Act affected day-to-day practice in Illinois courtrooms?
- Examining the Frequency and Outcomes of Motions to Detain in Cook, DuPage, Kane, and McHenry Counties
- Chicago Reported Crime Incidents by Week
- 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 data tool that tracks the daily Cook County Jail and Community Corrections population.
- Limited data in the first month of implementation suggest that the PFA may be reducing jail usage, but the impact varies from county to county.
- 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.
- Illinois Practitioners on Pretrial Detention and its Uses
- Some Insights from Illinois Practitioner Interviews
- 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.
- Under the current cash bail system, most people - even people charged with serious crimes - do not await trial in jail.
- This tool presents data comparing existing Cook bond decisions with the new PFA detainable groups.
- 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.
- A detailed analyses of 1,836 new cases that went through bond court in Lake County, Illinois, from March 1 to December 31, 2021.
- Observations in Cook, Lake, Winnebago, and McLean Counties
- Bond Decisions in Cook County
- This report examines trends in the number of individuals admitted to jail pretrial or formally supervised under pretrial supervision in the community.
- The Volume & Characteristics of Arrests Eligible for Detention