Investing in Pretrial Justice in Illinois: A Vision for Supporting Communities After the End of Money Bond
In the six months since the Pretrial Fairness Act took effect, multiple state agencies have called for additional resources to support the law’s implementation. The Illinois Network for Pretrial justice is excited to share our new report, “Investing in Pretrial Justice in Illinois: A Vision for Supporting Communities After the End of Money Bond,” which lays out a framework for holistically addressing these requests while centering the communities most harmed by the money bond system.
While the end of money bond is what caught headlines, the Pretrial Fairness Act went far beyond ending wealth-based jailing—it transformed the state’s pretrial legal system. These changes have led to questions about whether certain court actors, law enforcement agencies, and service providers need additional funding to adapt to the new system. Some counties allocated increased funding for court services ahead of the law’s implementation. The legislature also allocated $10 million to create a Public Defender Fund that the Illinois Supreme Court disbursed to almost every county to spend on public defender services. Additionally, the state established the Office of Statewide Pretrial Services, which has spent millions of dollars on staff, electronic monitoring equipment, a court date reminder system, and more.
Rather than addressing these funding needs individually, the Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice encourages policymakers to review these related but diverse costs collectively. It is imperative that the state develop a holistic plan for how to allocate funds across court systems and community stakeholder agencies in response to the implementation of the Pretrial Fairness Act. This report provides decision makers with guidance on the funding priorities identified by the vast network of community-based, faith-based, and policy advocacy organizations that secured this historic change to our criminal legal system.
