Western Illinois law enforcement officials and politicians are raising concerns about the Illinois Supreme Court opinion that will mean the end of cash bail for many criminal offenses in the state.
The state’s high court ruled last month that the SAFE-T Act strikes a balance between the rights of people accused of crimes and the rights of crime victims.
The ruling means cash bail will officially end on September 18.
A sheriff’s perspective
McDonough County Sheriff Nick Petitgout said that as a result, there will be no repercussions for crimes such as shoplifting, disorderly conduct, and petty theft.
He believes a lot of people will refuse to come to court if they don't have to put up cash for bail.
“It’s difficult to get anything done the way the system is written now. I can imagine when it’s just simply handing people a piece of paper that says, ‘I need you to go to court on this date,’ and they already don’t go to court,” he said.
“I think it’s going to be difficult to hold anyone accountable for these low-level crimes.”
Petitgout said now they need to work on making the law better.
“We’re going to collaborate with the state legislature and try to fix some of the things that we’ve pointed out and they’ve pointed out that, ‘Hey, this doesn’t work,’” he said.
Petitgout, who’s a Republican, also is also concerned that...
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