In January 2025, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office instituted what they call the “Felony Review Bypass Program,” which allows the Chicago Police Department to file felony charges directly for most gun possession offenses rather than having those charges first reviewed by prosecutors for approval, as has been the past policy. 

Historically, when police officers wanted to charge a person with a felony (other than drug charges), they would have to present their case to a felony review unit prosecutor who was available 24 hours a day. The prosecutor would review the charges to determine: 

1. whether there was probable cause that the person identified by the police had committed a crime;
2. what that alleged crime was, including whether it should be charged as a felony or misdemeanor; and
3. whether the police had engaged in misconduct in the investigation and/or arrest, which could compromise the ability to prosecute the case. The prosecutor might ask the officer questions or to conduct further investigation. 

The prosecutor would then decide whether to approve or reject the charges. Felony review is a critical component of the prosecutor’s duty to only allow cases to be filed where the minimum standard of probable cause was met and that the case was not tainted by police misconduct.

Statement from the Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice:

“The Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice is alarmed to learn that Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke is eliminating felony review in gun possession cases. Without any community input, the State’s Attorney decided to “pilot” the new policy in the 5th and 7th Police Districts—communities that are predominately Black and brown and that have a notable history of police misconduct.  Her decision to expand this policy, which she is calling “Expedited Felony Review” is nothing of the sort, as there would be no review before felony charges are filed.

Not only is this a refusal to perform one of the office’s core responsibilities to serve as a gatekeeper of the criminal justice system, it also weakens due process protections for accused people. With the expansion of this policy, Burke deprives her prosecutors of a say in whether certain felony charges are filed, allowing for unsubstantiated allegations to progress further in the criminal legal process. 

Allowing the police to bypass felony review also deprives accused people the opportunity to have a prosecutor assess whether the arrest was a result of unconstitutional actions by the police, which is critical given the Chicago Police Department’s historic and ongoing misconduct. It is notable that felony review is not required by state law but is instead something that Cook County willingly adopted in response to the police torture of Black and Latine Chicagoans into providing false confessions. 

It is important to note that many of these cases will ultimately be dismissed given that nearly 30% of all unlawful possession of a weapon cases end in a dismissal, a figure that has not changed since Burke took office. Refusing to review charges filed by Chicago Police will only increase the rate at which legally innocent people are being incarcerated in Cook County Jail, causing them to lose their jobs, homes and, in some cases, custody of their children. 

This policy decision ignores the long and sordid history of Chicago police misconduct and reflects an unjustified level of faith in police, while also signaling that the Cook County State’s Attorney is not committed to preventing, combatting, or protecting people from police misconduct.”