Elimination of cash bail in Illinois isn’t going smoothly everywhere across the state.
The issues in one county has a judge and a state’s attorney at odds, as a Christian county judge and prosecutor interpret the new law differently. The judge ruled in favor of releasing three people charged with drug crimes, but the state’s attorney argued they shouldn’t get out of jail. The judge maintains the state’s attorney’s office needed to file a petition to detain within 48 hours or 21 days before their first appearance.
All three made their first appearances before September 18 before cash bail ended. The prosecutor said he couldn’t file a petition to detain someone because the law wasn’t in effect at the time. The three people who were released committed non-detainable offenses, but the state’s attorney argues they committed crimes while out on pretrial release in the past and wanted their pre-trial release revoked.