Mosser wins second term as Kane County state’s attorney

Jamie Mosser defeated her Republican rival Tuesday to secure a second term as Kane County’s top prosecutor.

Mosser, a Democrat, had 112,962 votes compared to 99,081 for Andrew Sosnowski, her challenger in the race for state's attorney, according to unofficial totals.

Throughout the campaign, the candidates tangled over the state’s cashless bail system and some of the programs instituted by Mosser during her tenure.

Mosser first ran four years ago on a platform of “true criminal justice reform” and touts that “we have made some sweeping changes” in the county.

“Not every single person needs to go to jail or prison to be held accountable,” Mosser said at a League of Women Voters forum. “We have to look at every case individually.”

Mosser created a pre-arrest, or “collaborative,” diversion program that partners with police. When an officer recognizes a person committing a crime due to mental health issues, substance use disorder or lack of resources, they can send the individual to grant-funded case managers, “who statistically have been more likely to help them stay out of the criminal justice system,” than sending them through it alone, Mosser said.

“More programs like that will be created under my administration,” she added.

Sosnowski, a professor and former county prosecutor, said many of his opponent’s policies are “not needed for this county at this time.”

“I believe in second chances. However, many of the diversion and second chance programs can be streamlined and downsized,” Sosnowski wrote in a candidate questionnaire.

Sosnowski has referred to the SAFE-T Act, which among other things put an end to cash bail, “a horrible piece of legislation” and said that he “would ask the governor to put a moratorium immediately on that act.”

“When I was a prosecutor and they had bond, if the bond was too high, somebody could not be released, you know what was happening? The defense attorney and the prosecutor were working that case out,” he said. “We were talking. We weren't leaving somebody in jail for weeks and months at a time.”

Mosser said she’s been part of a negotiation team with other state’s attorneys that created trailer bills “that have significantly fixed the SAFE-T Act.”

“I’m going to continue to work with my colleagues to make this law better,” Mosser said, “because the positivity of it, not letting somebody get out who should not get out, is worth everything.”

She has, for instance, called for expanding the list of detainable offenses.