On Wednesday, July 3rd, the Allendale Ruritan Club met and had several District and National Club members in attendance. During the meeting, the 2024 Allendale Ruritan Scholarship winner Clay Morgan was in attendance and received his award from Allendale Ruritan President Bob Bowser. In attendance with Clay was his dad, Derek Morgan, and his girlfriend, Emily Gottman. As mentioned, several Ruritan dignitaries were in attendance at the meeting. In particular, Ruritan National President Robin Davenport addressed those in attendance.
Nelson New MCPD K9 Officer
Mt. Carmel’s new K-9 officer will start six weeks of training later this month. Police Chief Mike McWilliams has announced that Hunter Nelson will be taking over for Daniel Hopper who left as MCPD’s K-9 officer to take a job in Wayne County. McWilliams said Nelson and K-9 Eleven will begin the training on July 29th in Charleston.
MCPD PHOTO: Hunter Nelson (center) with Detective Eddie Johnson and Police Chief Mike McWilliams after Nelson’s graduation from the Southwestern Illinois Police Academy in 2023.
ILLINOIS STATE POLICE IMPROVES CRASH INVESTIGATION AND SAFETY TECHNIQUES DURING TESTING AND RESEARCH EVENT
JOLIET – To help with traffic crash investigations, as well as identify best practices to keep officers safe, the Illinois State Police (ISP) participated in the Illinois Association of Technical Accident Investigators crash testing event on June 26-28, 2024. The event took place at the Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, IL. ISP officers from the Traffic Crash Reconstruction Unit, Crime Scene Services, Division of Patrol, and representatives from the ISP Forensic Laboratory joined law enforcement officers and crash scene investigators from other agencies for the three-day event. Attendees witnessed live crash testing and participated in forensic mapping and digital evidence recovery.
“Opportunities for ISP to participate in events like this are instrumental to our continued success in crash scene reconstruction and digital evidence analysis,” said Director Brendan F. Kelly. “Experiences gained in these controlled environments and this level of in-depth training deepens our understanding of crash scene intricacies and allow us to further develop crime solving techniques. It also helps us determine the best practices to keep our troopers safe when they’re at a crash scene or on a traffic stop.”
A large focus of the testing was aimed at developing best practices for scene safety management as it pertains to the positioning of responding officer’s squad cars upon arrival to a scene. ISP donated multiple older squad cars to the event to evaluate the forces the retired squads received during crash events. This allowed personnel to evaluate how differences in vehicle placement at a scene could lower the amount of force incurred by the squads and how to minimize damage to the vehicle and potentially an officer inside. High-tech, biomechanical crash test dummies were brought in to measure the force a human body would sustain while seated inside a squad car while being struck from behind. The dummies were also tested standing on the side of vehicles, to replicate a trooper’s position while outside their vehicle on a traffic stop. Analysis of this data will help ISP and other law enforcement agencies develop ever-evolving best safety practices and improve training for officers.
Officers also had the opportunity to practice and hone their skills of controlling an Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS), also known as drones. ISP routinely uses UAS’s when responding to serious injury and fatal crashes to accurately map the scenes and document evidence.
Already in 2024, ISP has suffered 15 Move Over Law-related crashes with seven troopers injured. In 2023, ISP had 21 Move Over Law-related crashes with seven troopers injured, and suffered 25 crashes in 2022, leaving 13 troopers injured.
Enjoy family, friends and fireworks this Independence Day: Don’t drive drunk and don’t drive high
SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Department of Transportation is teaming up with the Illinois State Police and local law enforcement throughout the state to increase safety enforcement efforts during July Fourth holiday travel. Motorists will see the “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” campaign, with zero tolerance for those driving impaired by alcohol, marijuana or other drugs.
“Make plans to give your car keys to a designated driver or use a rideshare service before you start to celebrate July Fourth, so you and everyone else can make it home safely,” said IDOT’s Director of Highways and Chief Engineer Steve Travia. “Driving drunk or high could cost you or someone else their life. Make the only right choice: don’t drive impaired.”
According to IDOT data, last year in Illinois during the Independence Day holiday from July 1-4, there were 15 fatal crashes resulting in 16 fatalities, an average of more than four people killed each day of the holiday period. Four of the 15 fatal crashes were alcohol-related, resulting in four of the 16 fatalities.
Police throughout the state will work to put an end to impaired driving and strongly enforce seat belt, speeding and other traffic laws. Wearing a seat belt is the law in Illinois and your best defense against impaired drivers. Buckle up, and make sure your passengers do, too.
“Your freedom to drive could be revoked if you drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs,” said ISP Division of Patrol Col. Chris Owen. “Celebrate the freedoms afforded by the Declaration of Independence this Fourth of July responsibly – drive sober, wear your seatbelt and stay safe.”
Remember these important safety tips:
If you’re planning to use drugs or alcohol, give your keys to a sober driver who can safely drive you home or call a taxi, rideshare service or, if available, use your community’s sober ride program.
If you see an impaired driver on the road, contact law enforcement.
Remind your friends to never get in a vehicle with an impaired driver. If you have a friend who is about to drive impaired, take their keys away and help them get home safely. Don’t worry about offending someone – you might be saving their life or someone else’s.
The Independence Day “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” campaign is funded with federal highway safety tax dollars administered by IDOT and runs through July 8. The effort is administered by IDOT with federal funds and coincides with the comprehensive multimedia campaign “It's Not a Game.
Road closure planned for State Road 68 in Gibson County
GIBSON COUNTY, Ind. – The Indiana Department of Transportation announces a road closure for State Road 68 in Gibson County.
Beginning on or around Monday, July 8, crews will close State Road 68 in Gibson County in Haubstadt. This closure will occur at the intersection of State Road 68 and Elm Street.
State Road 68 will be closed to allow for a pipe replacement project at the intersection. Work is expected to take a week to complete, depending on the weather.
The official detour for this project is U.S. 41 to I-64 to State Road 65. Local traffic will have access up to the point of closure.
IDOT: Lanes reopening where possible for Independence Day travel
SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Department of Transportation announced today that lanes that have been closed for construction will reopen, where possible, for the Independence Day holiday to minimize travel disruption.
Non-emergency closures will be suspended from 3 p.m. Wednesday, July 3, to 11:59 p.m. Sunday, July 7.
The following lane closures will remain in place during the holiday weekend. Motorists can expect delays and should allow extra time for trips through these areas. Drivers are urged to pay close attention to changed conditions and signs in the work zones, obey the posted speed limits, refrain from using mobile devices and stay alert for workers and equipment. At all times, please buckle and drive sober.
District 1
City of Chicago
111th Street over the Bishop Ford Freeway (Interstate 94) in Chicago; closed, detour posted.
Westbound Bishop Ford ramp to 111th Street; closed, detour posted.
Bishop Ford at 111th Street; lane closures continue.
Kennedy Expressway (I-94) reversible lanes between Lawrence Avenue and Ohio Street; closed.
Kennedy between Milwaukee Avenue and Hubbard’s Cave; lane reductions continue.
Outbound Kennedy Expressway west of Addison Street; right shoulder closed.
Cook County
National Parkway between Golf Road and American Lane in Schaumburg; closed, detour posted.
Waukegan Road (Illinois 43) between Maple Avenue and Founders Drive in Northbrook; lane reductions continue.
Franklin Avenue between Runge Street and Mannheim Road (U.S. 12/45) in Franklin Park; lane reductions continue.
183rd Street at Pulaski Road in Country Club Hills; lane reductions continue on both roads.
La Grange Road (U.S. 12/20/25) between 87th Street and the Tri-State Tollway (I-294) in Lyons Township; lane reductions continue.
Southbound La Grange ramp to eastbound Archer Avenue (Illinois 171); closed, detour posted.
Chicago Avenue over Des Plaines River Road between First and Thatcher avenues in Maywood and River Forest; lane reductions continue.
Inbound Eisenhower Expressway (eastbound I-290) between First Avenue (Illinois 171) and the Des Plaines River; right shoulder closed.
Old Chicago Road over Forked Creek in Wesley Township; closed, detour posted.
Roy Avenue over Addison Creek in Northlake; closed, detour posted.
Cicero Avenue (Illinois 50) between 67th and 71st streets in Bedford Park; lane reductions continue.
Cermak Road between 19th Street and Gardner Road in Broadview and Westchester; lane reductions continue.
Ashland Avenue/Wood Street between 127th Street in Calumet Park and 147th Street/Sibley Boulevard (Illinois 83) in Harvey; closed, detour posted.
Cicero Avenue (Illinois 50) from Cal-Sag Road to the Midlothian Turnpike in Crestwood; lane reductions continue.
127th Street between Irving and Winchester avenues in Blue Island; lane reductions continue.
175th Street between Dixmoor Drive and Western Avenue in Hazel Crest; lane reductions continue.
Dixie Highway between Heather and Birch roads in Homewood; lane reductions continue.
55th Street between Wolf and Brainard roads in Western Springs, La Grange and Countryside; lane reductions continue.
DuPage County
Illinois 53 at Joann Lane in Woodridge; lane reductions continue.
I-55 at Lemont Road in Woodridge; all ramps closed with traffic controlled by temporary signals.
Roosevelt Road (Illinois 38) between Fapp Circle and Hazleton Avenue/Community Drive in Wheaton; lane reductions continue.
Kane County
Eastbound Chicago Street between Center Street and Liberty Street (Illinois 25) in Elgin; closed, detour posted.
U.S. 20 at State Street (Illinois 31) in Elgin; lane reductions on both roads continue.
Illinois 31 from south of U.S. 20 to McLean Boulevard in South Elgin; closed.
Lake County
Sheridan Road (Illinois 137) over Bull Creek, just south of Wadsworth Avenue in Zion; closed, detours posted.
Belvidere Road (Illinois 120) between Hunt Club Road and I-94 west of Park City; lane reductions continue.
Illinois 21 to eastbound Illinois 120; closed, detour posted.
Illinois 60 over the Des Plaines River in Vernon Hills; lane reductions continue.
McHenry County
Souwanas Trail between Vista Drive and Riverwood Drive in Algonquin; closed, detour posted.
Riverside Drive between Johnsburg Road and Running Brook Farm Boulevard in Johnsburg; closed, detour posted.
Millstream Road between River Road and Illinois 176 in Seneca Township; closed, detour posted.
State Street (Illinois 23) at Telegraph Road (Illinois 176) in Marengo; closed, detour posted.
Will County
Illinois 113 west of West River Road south of Wilmington; lane closures continue.
Moen Avenue between Mound Road and Larkin Avenue in Rockdale; closed, detour posted.
Sioux Drive/Dove Drive between Sunset Drive and Eames Street (U.S. 6) in Channahon; lane reductions continue.
Essington Road between Pandola Avenue and Citadel Drive in Joliet; lane reductions continue.
Northwest Frontage Road between Jefferson Street (U.S. 52) and Black Road in Shorewood; closed, detour posted.
River Road over I-80 in Shorewood; closed, detour posted.
I-55 at between I-80 and Jefferson Street (U.S. 52) in Shorewood and Joliet; all shoulders closed.
Illinois 59 at Seil Road in Shorewood; lane reductions continue.
Westbound I-80 at Richards Street (exit 133) in Joliet; both ramps closed, detour posted.
I-80 at Wheeler Avenue; all shoulders closed.
I-80 between River Road in Shorewood and Ridge Road in Minooka; all shoulders closed.
Between River Road and Houbolt Road in Joliet; all shoulders closed.
Between Houbolt Road and the Joliet Junction Trail; all shoulders closed.
Between Rowell Avenue in Joliet and Gougar Road in New Lenox; all shoulders closed.
Old Chicago Road over Forked Creek in Wesley Township; closed, detour posted.
Briggs Street over I-80 in Joliet; lane reductions continue.
District 2
Carroll County
Illinois 84 in Savanna; lane reductions continue with traffic controlled by temporary signals.
Jo Daviess County
Eastbound U.S. 20 in Galena; closed, detour posted.
Illinois 84 in Hanover; lane reductions continue with traffic controlled by temporary signals.
Whiteside County
Illinois 84 north of Fulton; lane reductions continue with traffic controlled by temporary signals.
Illinois 78 in Morrison; closed, detour posted.
Winnebago County
Illinois 2 near Rockton; lane reductions continue.
I-39/U.S. 20 interchange just south of Rockford; lane reductions continue
Harrison Avenue (U.S. 20) at I-39 in Cherry Valley; lane reductions continue.
Southbound 39 ramp to Harrison Avenue; closed.
Illinois 70 south of Durand; lane reductions continue with traffic controlled by temporary signals.
District 3
Bureau County
I-80 from the Henry County line to Illinois 40; lane reductions continue.
DeKalb County
Illinois 23 just south of Waterman; lane reductions continue.
Ford County
Illinois 115 about 3 miles north of Illinois 54; closed, detour posted.
Grundy County
Northbound I-55 north of Gardner; lane reductions continue.
Iroquois County
I-57 at Buckley (exit 232); lane reductions continue.
Kankakee County
Armour Road just west of Kinzie Avenue (Illinois 50) in Bourbonnais; lane reductions continue.
La Salle County
Illinois 170 about 4 miles north of Ransom; lane reductions continue with traffic controlled by temporary signals.
Illinois 170 over Waupecan Creek south of Ransom; lane reductions continue with traffic controlled by temporary signals.
Livingston County
Illinois 17 at I-55 in Dwight; lane reductions continue.
District 4
Fulton County
Illinois 100 over Otter Creek near Enion; lane reductions continue with traffic controlled by temporary signals.
U.S. 136 and Illinois 78/97 over Lacy Ditch and over the Spoon River overflow; lane reductions continue with traffic controlled by temporary signals.
Knox County
Illinois 116 about 1.5 miles east of Illinois 41; lane reductions continue with traffic controlled by temporary signals.
Illinois 116 just east of the Warren County line; lane reductions continue with traffic controlled by temporary signals.
I-74 just north of Main Street in Galesburg; lane reductions continue.
I-74 about 8.5 miles west of Brimfield; lane reductions continue.
Marshall County
Illinois 29 at the Illinois 17 junctions in Sparland:
Over Gimlet Creek; lane reductions continue.
Over Thenius Creek; lane reductions continue with traffic controlled by temporary signals.
Illinois 17 over Senachwine Creek west of Sparland; lane reductions continue with traffic controlled by temporary signals.
Mercer County
U.S. 67 over Pope Creek 3 miles south of Viola; lane reductions continue with traffic controlled by temporary signals.
Illinois 17, four miles east of Viola is reduced to one lane. Traffic is controlled by signals.
Peoria County
Eastbound War Memorial Drive (U.S. 150) at Adams Street (Illinois 29) in Peoria; lane reductions continue.
Adams Street (Illinois 29) between Lorentz Avenue and Eureka Street in Peoria; lane reductions continue.
I-474 at Airport Road (exit 5) near Peoria; lane reductions continue.
Illinois 8 just east of Oak Hill; closed.
Illinois 78 north of Farmington; lane reductions continue with traffic controlled by temporary signals.
Illinois 78 over I-74 is reduced to one lane; traffic is controlled by temporary signals.
Putnam County
Illinois 89 over Clear Creek and Clear Creek tributary north of Magnolia; lane reductions continue with traffic controlled by temporary signals.
Stark County
Illinois 17/91 over the Spoon River west of Wyoming; lane reductions continue with traffic controlled by temporary signals.
Tazewell County
U.S. 24 between Cummings Lane and Main Street in Washington; lane reductions continue.
I-155 near Hopedale; lane reductions continue.
Westbound U.S. 24 near the Illinois Central College campus in East Peoria; lane reductions continue.
Cedar Street Extension (Illinois 116/8) in East Peoria; lane reductions continue.
District 5
Champaign County
Westbound I-74 ramp to northbound I-57 in Champaign; closed, detour posted.
Northbound I-57 ramp to westbound I-74; closed, detour posted.
I-57 at the U.S. 45 interchange in Pesotum (exit 220); lane reductions continue.
I-74 at the Illinois 130 interchange in Urbana (exit 185); lane reductions continue.
Edgar County
U.S. 150 east of Paris; lane reductions continue with traffic controlled by temporary signals.
McLean County
U.S. 24 2 miles east of Chenoa; lane reductions continue with traffic controlled by temporary signals.
Illinois 9 east of in Bloomington east of I-55/74; lane reductions continue.
Piatt County
Bridge Street over I-72 in Monticello; lane reductions continue.
Vermilion County
Eastbound I-74 between U.S. 150 and Bowman Avenue in Danville; lane reductions continue.
Westbound I-74 between Bowman Avenue in Danville and G Street in Tilton; lane reductions continue.
U.S. 150 over I-74 in Tilton; lane reductions continue.
I-74 east of Bowman Avenue in Danville; lane reductions continue.
Illinois 1 about 2 miles north of Rossville; lane reductions continue.
Illinois 49 northwest of Armstrong; lane reductions continue.
I-74 between mileposts 205 near Oakwood and 216 at Danville; lane reductions continue.
District 6
Adams County
24th Street at Ellington Road just north of Quincy; closed, detour posted.
Illinois 104 over Mill Creek east of Quincy; lane reductions continue.
Brown County
Illinois 103 from U.S. 24 at Ripley to about 2 miles west of U.S. 67; closed, detour posted.
Hancock County
U.S. 136 over the Mississippi River at Hamilton; lane reductions continue.
Macoupin County
Illinois 16 near Piasa; lane reductions continue.
Mason County
Illinois 10 in Mason City; lane reductions continue.
Montgomery County
Illinois 16 near Ohlman; lane reductions continue.
Sangamon County
Illinois 104 west of Auburn; lane reductions continue.
District 7
Coles County
I-57 over U.S. 45 south of Mattoon; lane reductions continue.
Effingham County
Fayette Avenue between Henrietta and Walnut streets in Effingham; lane reductions continue.
I-70 between Montrose and the Cumberland County line; lane reductions continue.
U.S. 45 about three miles south of Illinois 37; lane reductions continue with traffic controlled by temporary signals.
Illinois 37 over the Wabash River just south of I-57; lane reductions continue with traffic controlled by temporary signals.
Fayette County
Illinois 185 over I-57 at Farina; lane reductions continue with traffic controlled by temporary signals.
Lawrence County
U.S. 50 about two miles east of the airport interchange; lane reductions continue.
Illinois 1 about two miles south of Lawrenceville; lane reductions continue with traffic controlled by temporary signals.
Macon County
I-72 east of Forsyth; lane reductions continue.
Illinois 121 just east of the Logan County line; lane reductions continue with traffic controlled by temporary signals.
Pershing Road (Illinois 121) at University Avenue in Decatur; lane reductions continue on both roads.
Wabash County
Illinois 1 just south of the Lawrence County line; lane reductions continue with traffic controlled by temporary signals.
Wayne County
Illinois 15 about a mile west of Sims Road; lane reductions continue with traffic controlled by temporary signals.
Illinois 15 about a mile west of County Highway 3; lane reductions continue with traffic controlled by temporary signals
District 8
Clinton County
Illinois 127 just north of Illinois 161 at Posey; lane reductions continue with traffic controlled by temporary signals.
Marion County
I-57 between Illinois 161 and the Jefferson County line (mileposts 106-110); lane reductions continue.
Southbound I-57 ramps at Illinois 161; closed.
Randolph County
Illinois 155 east of Bluff Road in Prairie du Rocher; lane reductions continue with traffic controlled by temporary signals.
St. Clair County
26th Street between Illinois 15 and Bond Avenue in East St. Louis; closed.
Eastbound I-70 ramp to eastbound I-64; closed.
District 9
Alexander County
U.S. 60/62 bridge over the Mississippi River at Cairo; closed.
Old Illinois 3 south of Gale; closed.
U.S. 51 north of Cairo; lane reductions continue.
Hardin County
Illinois 34 over Rose Creek; lane reductions continue with traffic controlled by temporary signals.
Jackson County
Illinois 3 north of Illinois 151; lane reductions continue.
Jefferson County
I- 64 at the Bluford/Belle Rive interchange (exit 89); lane reductions continue.
I-64 between U.S. 51 and I-57; lane reductions continue.
Massac County
I-24 over Bear Creek; lane reductions continue.
Perry County
U.S. 51 north of Tamaroa; lane reductions continue with traffic controlled by temporary signals.
Pope County
Illinois 145 over Bay Creek, just south of Illinois 146; lane reductions continue with traffic controlled by temporary signals.
Illinois 145 over Bear Creek, just south of Bay Creek; lane reductions continue with traffic controlled by temporary signals.
Saline County
U.S. 45 near Texas City; lane reductions continue with traffic controlled by temporary signals.
White County
I-64 east of Burnt Prairie; lane reductions continue.
Williamson County
I-24 at milepost 2; lane reductions continue.
Southbound I-57 between mileposts 32 and 43; lane reductions continue.
Over the next six years, IDOT is planning to improve more than 3,000 miles of highway and nearly 10 million square feet of bridge deck as part of Rebuild Illinois, which is investing $33.2 billion into all modes of transportation. Accomplishments through Year Four of Rebuild Illinois included approximately $12.1 billion of improvements statewide on 5,339 miles of highway, 533 bridges and 762 additional safety improvements.
For more information on IDOT projects, click here. Follow us on Twitter at @IDOT_Illinois or view area construction details on IDOT’s traveler information map on GettingAroundIllinois.com
Wabash County Board Of Health Agenda
The Wabash County Board of Health will meet at the Wabash County Health Department Conference Room on Wednesday July 10,2024
The agenda will be as follows:
1. Call to Order 12:00 pm
2. Approval of previous Meeting Minutes
3. Claims Review/ Approval
4. Financial Report(s)/ Approval
5. Review of Personnel Policies
6. Division Reports
7. Adjournment
After 9 months, state data begins to detail new pretrial detention system
By JERRY NOWICKI
Capitol News Illinois
jnowicki@capitolnewsillinois.com
Nine months after cash bail ended in Illinois, the state is taking its first steps in publishing the data that crafters of the bail reform law saw as essential to judging its effectiveness.
The data shows that judges in the 75 counties served by the Illinois Supreme Court’s Office of Statewide Pretrial Services had collectively issued failure-to-appear warrants in just 5 percent of more than 28,000 court dates as of Friday. Judges had approved about 63 percent of petitions to detain a defendant pretrial that were sent to them by prosecutors.
The OSPS, launched in 2021 to provide things like pretrial safety assessments and electronic monitoring for 75 of Illinois’ 102 counties, published the data in a new dashboard this week. It represents a key – but still early and incomplete – step in tracking Illinois’ progress as the first state to fully end cash bail through a wide-ranging criminal justice reform known as the SAFE-T Act.
Some state’s attorneys, sheriffs and other law enforcement organizations were staunchly and publicly opposed to the law when it passed – launching several lawsuits that ultimately delayed cash bail’s elimination by nine months. But retired Cook County Judge Cara Smith, who now leads the OSPS, said she believes the data shows everyone is taking their responsibilities under the SAFE-T Act “very seriously.”
Read more: Cash bail will end in Illinois as justices rule SAFE-T Act provisions constitutional
“I think judges and the other stakeholders – everyone, regardless of what their position might have been on the policy behind the SAFE-T Act – that everyone's doing their job,” she told Capitol News Illinois.
For David Olson, co-director of the Loyola University of Chicago’s Center for Criminal Justice, or CCJ, the data demonstrates the complexities of tracking a reform as large as the SAFE-T Act in a state as geographically diverse as Illinois.
“Everyone wants to know: ‘How's it going in Illinois?’” Olson said in an interview. “Well, which of the 102 Illinois(es) do you want to hear about? There's 102 counties, and every one's a little bit different.”
New pretrial detention system
The SAFE-T Act included a provision known as the Pretrial Fairness Act that ended the use of cash bail in Illinois, meaning a person cannot be jailed while awaiting trial simply because they can’t afford a dollar amount assigned by a judge. After litigation forced a delay in implementing the PFA, cash bail was officially eliminated on Sept. 18, 2023.
Read more: Pritzker signs changes to SAFE-T Act’s cash bail provisions
It created a replacement system in which prosecutors can petition judges to detain an individual based on the seriousness of the alleged crime and the defendant’s dangerousness or risk of fleeing prosecution. Before a judge can order detention, the state must prove “by clear and convincing evidence” that the defendant committed the crime, poses a specific threat to a person or the community and that no other pretrial conditions can mitigate the defendant’s risk.
The law also gives defendants a right to legal representation at their first court hearing, with the intention of making hearings more deliberative when an individual’s freedom is at stake as they await a full trial.
OSPS had completed more than 16,600 pretrial investigations since cash bail ended as of Friday, with just over 10,200 of them for defendants accused of a felony. As part of those investigations, the OSPS provides individual reports about a defendant to judges, public defenders and prosecutors prior to a first appearance in court. The investigations usually include an interview with the defendant, a detailed criminal history, employment information and more.
The data showed that about 52 percent of cases that were subject to an OSPS pretrial investigation contained at least one offense considered “detainable” under the SAFE-T Act. As of Friday, prosecutors had petitioned the court to detain the defendant in 62 percent of those cases.
Read more: Ahead of cash bail’s end, state’s replacement pretrial justice system takes shape
The fact that judges approved 63 percent of those petitions, Smith said, was evidence the system was working.
“If we would have seen 99 percent of detention petitions are granted, that would have been a red flag,” Smith said.
Smith also stressed that the statewide data only tells part of the story – county- and circuit-level data is just as important. The various circuit courts within OSPS’ jurisdiction had detention petition approval rates ranging from 48 percent to 84 percent as of Friday, though Smith pointed out percentages can be misleading, especially in smaller counties with low case volumes.
Read more: Disparately resourced public defenders prepare for the end of cash bail in Illinois
Four large counties that are not part of the OSPS – Cook, DuPage, Kane and McHenry – report some level of pretrial detention data individually. Detention petitions as of Friday were granted at a 38 percent rate in Kane County, 41 percent in DuPage and 40 percent in McHenry.
Cook County, which has the highest volume of cases of any jurisdiction by far, broke down its data further, reporting that detention was granted for 61 percent of 93 petitions filed for misdemeanor cases as of June 8, 41 percent of 1,485 domestic violence cases, and 70 percent of 2,641 felony cases.
‘We didn’t see any sort of knee jerk’
Judges as of Friday had issued failure-to-appear warrants in only 5 percent of 28,416 court dates in the 75 OSPS counties since cash bail was eliminated. But Olson – whose CCJ has been studying pretrial detention since before the SAFE-T Act’s passage – cautioned that those numbers could increase, as failure-to-appear warrants are most accurately accounted for once a case has concluded.
Read more: Contextualizing cash bail’s end
“The (failure to appear) rates will likely increase as more of these cases have more time to have hearings missed,” Olson said.
However, both Smith and Olson also noted the number is likely driven downward by the SAFE-T Act’s instruction to judges not to rely on such warrants as a first remedy for a non-appearance.
“And really, the reason for that is a lot of defendants previously who had warrants issued just, basically, they forgot about court,” Olson said.
Other means of assuring a defendant’s appearance in court, Smith said, include simply sending text message reminders.
“We send about 200 court date text message reminders a day,” she said. “So that has been shown – just like it is when we get a haircut or have a doctor's appointment – to be an effective way of keeping important appointments at the forefront of people's minds.”
Another major function of the OSPS is to oversee electronic monitoring of individuals subject to home confinement in its 75 counties from a centralized location in Springfield. The OSPS now absorbs the cost of electronic monitoring – which, in many counties, was previously passed on to defendants.
Smith said OSPS has plans to add electronic monitoring data to a future version of its dashboard, and she added the agency has enrolled about 1,100 people in electronic monitoring.
“I was very afraid of an explosion in the use of electronic monitoring after Sept. 18,” Smith said. “We have not seen that. The program has steadily grown, but it's grown sort of organically … we didn't see any sort of knee jerk.”
Olson echoed that point, noting that the OSPS made electronic monitoring – and pretrial services in general – available in counties where it was never previously an option. But some counties may be reluctant to order electronic monitoring even though it is free to them, he said, because they’d have to expend potentially sparse personnel resources to enforce it.
‘A lot of variation’
While the OSPS data is useful in understanding how certain counties are handling pretrial detention in addition to examining broader trends, Olson said, it further demonstrates the disparities across jurisdictions.
The detainability data specifically applies to individuals who have been subject to an OSPS investigation – and not those whom an officer has simply cited and released.
Olson pointed to one example of how the numbers can be skewed in any individual county based on its practices. He said Loyola CCJ researchers were told by officials in southern Illinois’ Williamson County that all arrestees are held in jail at least overnight prior to appearing before a judge. As a result, the OSPS conducted investigations on all of those individuals, even if their offense was low-level. Thus, only 36 percent of individuals subject to an investigation in that county were detainable, per the dashboard.
In neighboring Franklin County, meanwhile, Olson said officials reported they jail only those individuals they believe are detainable, resulting in 59 percent of investigated cases containing a detainable offense.
There’s also a lot of county-to-county variance on the percentage of detention petitions granted, Olson added.
“And it really illustrates what we suspect is going to happen, and that's there's going to be a lot of variation from circuit to circuit and county to county, just based on local practices, priorities, discretion that's given to prosecutors and who they seek to detain,” he said.
‘So has it increased crime?’
While both Smith and Olson said the dashboard is just an early step in the data-gathering process, Olson added there’s a lot more information to be gathered in the coming years before the end of cash bail can be fully evaluated.
“I think that the biggest question people are going to want to know is, ‘So has this increased crime?’” he said. “That's still too early to know.”
Olson added that it’s important to differentiate between longstanding cyclical crime increases – such as more crime occurring in warmer weather – and actual effects of the policy. He also advised against extrapolating judgments about the system from any single instance of an individual being released from custody and going on to reoffend – because that also happened under cash bail.
“It’s still too early to say empirically, but there will likely be plenty of folks that talk about it anecdotally,” he said of cash bail’s effectiveness.
Olson’s CCJ also noted the law has had its intended effect of adding scrutiny to decisions affecting an individual’s liberty.
Bail hearings generally lasted about 4-6 minutes in four counties observed by the CCJ prior to Pretrial Fairness Act, according to a March CCJ report. After it passed, observed pretrial hearings averaged about 4-7 minutes – except in cases when detention was requested. Those hearings had median lengths of 10-30 minutes, with some lasting nearly an hour.
“That's actually one of the positive things that we've we found is everybody in the courtroom, including the defendant, knows exactly why the judge is reaching the decision,” he said.
Hannah Meisel contributed.
The Office of Pretrial Services, which is overseen by the Illinois Supreme Court (pictured), released data this week about pretrial investigations and detentions nine months after cash bail ended in Illinois. (Capitol News Illinois photo by Jerry Nowicki)