Sangamon Sun

The heavily debated SAFE-T Act is set to go into effect on Jan. 1, 2023. Since its inception, the SAFE-T Act has received push back from law enforcement, police unions and many Republican elected representatives.

The Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority (ICJIA) website states that the SAFE-T Act enacts extensive reform impacting many areas of the criminal justice system, including pre-arrest diversion, policing, pretrial, sentencing and corrections.

The most contested aspect of the SAFE-T Act is that it will eliminate cash bail in the state of Illinois. The bill noted it will be “presumed that a defendant is entitled to release on personal recognizance” and may be detained thereafter if they violate certain conditions listed in 725 ILCS 5/110-2.

Lisa Smith, candidate for Illinois state representative of District 96, criticized her opponent Sue Scherer for voting in favor of the SAFE-T Act.

"Sue Scherer is continuing Illinois Democrats’ radical push to defund the police and make our communities less safe," Smith wrote in an Aug. 26 Facebook post. "In fact she was the last deciding vote to pass this irrational act. The SAFE-T Act is set to abolish cash bail – an important tool used by law enforcement to keep dangerous criminals off the streets before a trial can be held. The SAFE-T Act's provisions, will allow rapists, domestic abusers, murderers and other violent criminals off easy in the name of social justice. I join residents of the 96th District to vote for Lisa Smith who backs the blue and will work hard to keep our communities safe."

According to Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow during a speech he gave on July 4 in Naperville, Will County has 640 perpetrators in Will County Jail. On Jan. 1, all bonds will be extinguished, and they will be eligible for release. Sixty of those 640 are charged with murder, and many others are violent offenses.

“If that bill [the SAFE-T Act] goes into effect…police officers’ hands will be tied. What you see in Chicago, we’ll have here (Naperville)," Glasgow said. "I won’t be able to hold anybody in jail longer than 90 days if they demand trial, and after at the 90th day, they get out, no matter what crime they committed, and then, if they don’t show up for court, I can’t get a warrant…they’re not going to come back to court…It’s going to be literally the end of days."

Sen. John Curran addressed some of the issues with having to find “continued detention” necessary following the initial detention hearing saying, “The prosecutor has to identify, and the judge has to find that you pose a risk to a particular individual to continue to detain that person,” as opposed to only having to prove a risk to the general public.

The Center Square reports that Gov. J.B. Pritzker has defended HB3653, The SAFE-T Act. One of the reasons he provided for his stance on the issue is the bill would protect criminals without the financial resources that "drug dealers" have and keep them from having to sit in jail for days.