Sen. Robert Peters speaks during a Senate Executive Committee at the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield on April 7, 2022.
Under the proposal, defendants accused of nonviolent offenses must have their hearings within seven days, while those who could pose a flight risk must appear in court within 60 days. Defendants who could be deemed a safety threat, such as those accused of murder, sexual assault and other violent crimes, must appear for their hearings with 90 days.
Prosecutors had expressed concern that it would be almost impossible to make an argument for flight risk because the law prevented them from using a defendant’s prior history of failing to appear in court. Peters’ proposal would allow patterns of failing to show up for court to be used in making the argument for detention, but would not allow a single court nonappearance to be used against a defendant.
Bennett, a former prosecutor, drafted his own proposed changes to the SAFE-T Act in September. During Pritzker’s reelection campaign, the governor pointed to Bennett’s ideas as worthy of consideration, but advocates had pushed back on them as potentially undermining the intent of eliminating a cash bail system.
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