Illinois’ chronic underfunding of public defense is a civil rights crisis. In jurisdictions across the state, public defenders are tasked with overwhelming caseloads and are often deprived of the resources required to provide quality defense. Funding disparities between the prosecutor’s and public defender’s budgets exist in every county. These dynamics disproportionately impact rural, Black, and Latinx clients who are most likely to use the public defender’s representation. 

The Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice believes that the Funded Advocacy & Independent Representation (FAIR) Act can end this injustice. We are proud to join more than 50 organizations in endorsing this legislation that will create a statewide office of public defense and ensure that all Illinoisians have access to quality representation. 

Currently, Illinois is one of only seven states without any statewide oversight or standards for trial-level public defense. Our state’s public defender system hasn’t been significantly updated since 1949—before the constitutional right to a public defender even existed. Defender workloads were stretched to concerning levels before the Pretrial Fairness Act took effect. According to a 2021 Sixth Amendment Center study commissioned by the Illinois Supreme Court, public defenders were struggling with excessive caseloads that negatively affected their clients. In the study, a public defender in Champaign County reported having 50 pretrial conferences in one day and 100 scheduled for the next day. In DuPage County, a public defender said he was only able to get through 70% of the evidence provided by the prosecution in any given case because of limited capacity. Unsurprisingly, the Sixth Amendment Center found these excessive caseloads created fears of burnout and depression among public defense attorneys. Nearly 60% of Illinois counties have no government office of public defense and instead contract with private attorneys to provide representation, often on a part-time basis. 

With the implementation of the Pretrial Fairness Act, increased funding for public defense in Illinois is more important than ever. Now that money bond has been eliminated in Illinois, short hearings in which a judge arbitrarily chooses a dollar amount to attach to someone’s pretrial freedom are a thing of the past. Release and detention hearings are now considerably longer and more robust, with more evidence and preparation involved. Defense counsel are required by the law to be appointed in advance of court, review evidence being used by the prosecution, and be given time to consult with their clients.

In order for these hearings to provide due process to accused people, it is essential that public defenders have adequate resources and support to provide high-quality representation to every client. Zealous representation by defense attorneys is a necessary element in reaching fair conclusions and enforcing new standards under the law. Defense attorneys serve as a safeguard to ensure that the rights of people in pretrial hearings are not violated, and that if they are, necessary objections and appeals are raised in a timely manner so that a resolution can be sought. Without adequate resourcing of public defense in Illinois, it is safe to say the rights enshrined in statute by the Pretrial Fairness Act will be unable to benefit the real people they are meant to protect in courtrooms across the state.

In 2023, when the state appropriated $10 million towards public defense to help implement the Pretrial Fairness Act, 101 counties received between $77,000 and $147,555 each. Some chief public defenders reported being hesitant to use the money to hire new full-time staff since renewal was not guaranteed. More sustained funding is needed to ensure increased public defense capacity for directly representing accused people. 

With such a long-standing underfunding of public defense, it is clear that small, annual expenditures for public defense cannot close the gap. The Funded Advocacy & Independent Representation (FAIR) Act can bring Illinois public defense into the 21st century and ensure that everyone is able to benefit from the rights enshrined in the Pretrial Fairness Act.