In January, Illinois House Republicans introduced House Bill 1482, which would increase the powers of judges to deny pretrial release under the existing cashless bail system. Debate over cashless bail has increased since President Donald Trump issued an executive order in August aiming to end it.
The Pretrial Fairness Act, which went into effect September 2023, abolished cash bail in the state of Illinois. Under the existing cashless bail system, judges decide eligibility for pretrial release based on whether offenders pose a risk to the community or would be likely to flee.
HB 1482 would widen the criteria under which judges can deny bail.
“It expands the detention net to all felonies, and it reduces the legal standard for detention from clear and convincing evidence to preponderance of the evidence, or more likely than not standard,” said State Rep. Patrick Windhorst (R-117), primary sponsor of HB 1482.
Windhorst, like Trump, supports a return to cash bail. However, he currently sees this as unlikely. In an effort to “be agreeable to the other side of the aisle,” Windhorst introduced HB 1482.
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“What this bill, 1482, was designed to do was essentially address the issues with the current SAFE-T Act, with the understanding that the current makeup of the General Assembly and Governor Pritzker do not support a return to cash bail,” Windhorst said.
Part of the larger criminal justice reform effort of the 2021 SAFE-T Act, the Pretrial Fairness Act was met with legal challenges that delayed its going into effect.
Reform advocates cite cash bail as disproportionately impacting lower-income people, especially people of color. A 2021 report on the civil rights implications of cash bail cited a study that found Black men received 35% higher bail amounts than white men with similar charges and criminal history.
“This legislation marks a substantial step toward dismantling the systemic racism that plagues our communities, our state and our nation,” said Gov. JB Pritzker in 2021 about abolishing cash bail.
In the two years since the Pretrial Fairness Act was enacted, Illinois jail populations have reduced overall, but the impact on addressing racial inequity was less than expected.
Supporters of cash bail point to the possibilities of criminals reoffending or not showing up to court hearings if they are released pretrial, a rhetoric shown in Trump’s executive order. Data from the last two years reflects that the rate of people who showed up for their hearings has not changed in Illinois under the Pretrial Fairness Act.
Illinois is currently the only state to have completely eliminated cash bail, while other states like Alaska and New Jersey have nearly removed the practice.
According to Windhorst, Illinois could rethink its bail system if courts maintain Trump’s executive order.
As outlined in the order, Attorney General Pam Bondi has 30 days to submit to Trump a list of states and local jurisdictions that have eliminated cash bail, a period which ended Sept. 24. These jurisdictions risk suspension of federal funds.
“We’ll have to see how that plays out in the court system,” Windhorst said. “If the courts hold that … the executive order can be enforced and funds can be withheld, then I could see an effort by the state to make changes to comply with the executive order.”
