Today, the Cook County Board of Commissioners voted to approve President Preckwinkle’s $10.1 billion budget proposal for fiscal year 2026. The Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice commends the Cook County Board of Commissioners for rejecting State’s Attorney Burke’s reported request for nearly 400 new staff positions and an even more dramatic increase in her office’s budget than what was ultimately awarded. 

Since 2016, the Sheriff’s budget has grown by $300 million and the State’s Attorney’s budget has doubled. We are incredibly disappointed that the Board has yet again increased funding for both the Cook County Department of Corrections and the State’s Attorney’s Office, given that the responsibilities of both offices have significantly decreased.

Since Cook County began reducing the use of money bond, followed by our state abolishing its use with the Pretrial Fairness Act, the number of people incarcerated in Cook County Jail decreased by 40%. In addition, the Sheriff’s electronic monitoring program has been discontinued. Rather than reappropriating money no longer needed to warehouse people who couldn’t afford to purchase their freedom while awaiting trial, the Sheriff continues to receive more money. 

At the same time, Cook County has seen a dramatic reduction in crime, due in part to a $350 million investment in violence prevention from the county, city, and state since 2020. Even though the need for prosecutions has significantly decreased, the budget for the State’s Attorney’s Office has continued to increase. Increasing funding for this office is inconsistent with the county’s focus on a proactive and preventative, rather than reactive and punitive, approach to harm and violence in our communities.

The county has helped stop violence before it happens by investing in the social safety net, safe and stable affordable housing, behavioral health care, violence prevention programs, and youth and recreational services. The need for the county to increase those efforts is even more urgent now that our progress is at risk due to the actions taken by the Trump administration to reduce funding to states and gut the social safety net. Budgets are moral documents that show us what government officials truly value. With three years left in Trump’s administration, the needs of our most marginalized communities will only increase. It is our hope that the Cook County Board of Commissioners will begin looking at the next funding cycle now to ensure that the next budget fully reflects the needs and priorities of our communities in 2027.