Daily Herald opinion: A year later, cashless bail in Illinois is working, but tweaks are needed

When Illinois started cashless bail last year, critics of the legislation were easy to find and very vocal, even going to court to try and stop it.

Only two of Illinois’ 102 state’s attorneys vocally supported the measure. Many state’s attorneys were plaintiffs in a lawsuit trying to block it.

On the anniversary of the start of cashless bail, it’s a good time to take a look at its performance. In a story Sunday, Daily Herald reporters Barbara Vitello and Susan Sarkauskas talked with proponents and critics of the system who now have a year’s worth of experience with it.

Proponents, including Lake County State’s Eric Rinehart, say the law has been a success, making the system more equitable and communities safer.

“We are holding more sex offenders and all murderers under the new system,” he said.

Kane County Sheriff Ron Hain, a critic of the law, says it has put more people into custody and increased court workloads.

One thing everyone can agree on is that the doomsday scenarios of accused murders walking the streets or most released defendants not appearing for future court appearances have not occurred.

People charged with violent crimes are being detained, state’s attorneys told our reporters. The vast majority of defendants that are released are appearing for future hearings.

The new system is working in that regard.

The numbers on jail populations are mixed.

Cook County is reporting fewer inmates, though Sheriff Tom Dart says cashless bail had a negligible effect on that. Hain says the number of inmates in Kane County is up. Lake County’s jail population is down slightly.

On the public defender side, Cook County Public Defender Sharone R. Mitchell Jr. is pleased that defendants are getting individualized hearings before being detained, which wasn’t always happening before the system was implemented.

“That is what we would all want if we were accused, and it’s what we’re doing now,” he said.

Another thing that we can probably all agree on is that the law is far from perfect, and lawmakers would be wise to work with state’s attorneys and other stakeholders to strengthen it.

DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin, an initial critic of the bill who worked with legislators to make modifications before it was implemented, would like to see judges have the ability to detain defendants charged with home burglary, organized retail crime and retail theft. Kane County State’s Attorney Jamie Mosser is concerned repeat offenders charged in non-detainable offenses and people charged with assaulting a peace officer aren’t eligible for detention if it’s their first offense.

Both of those modifications seem reasonable. Judges should have more latitude to jail repeat offenders. Assaulting a peace officer should be grounds for remaining behind bars. Those are common-sense moves. There may be others.

Both Mitchell and Rinehart say they need more funding for attorneys and support personal to conduct detention hearings. Defendants, especially downstate, weren’t always getting representation from a public defender during initial appearances. They are now. Lawmakers should make sure that state’s attorneys and public defenders have the funding necessary to make this program a success.

To make cashless bail a continued success, the legal system needs the resources to make sure every case gets the attention it deserves. A cashless bail system is probably here to stay in Illinois. Let’s make sure we make it the best system possible.