(WSIL)---Under the current system, bail is set by a judge after someone is arrested for a crime.
By 2023, cash bail will no longer exist in Illinois.
"And what's being prepared now and what you will see in 2022 is pretrial detention services," said Jefferson County Sheriff, Jeff Bullard Sr.Â
This model is already in the Illinois juvenile system, but what that means is following an arrest, a judge, in a relatively short amount of time, will determine if you are to be released or held until your trial.
Starting on the first of January, the process of eliminating cash bail will begin, but it will be a year long process before it's complete.
When the program is gone, only certain offenses will require those arrested to be held in jail until trial.
Those include class three felonies or above, domestic violence offenses, or gun felonies.
"Only certain qualifying offenses would be deemed something where you could deny someone pretrial release. And you don't see anywhere on that chart any drug offense. The only thing that kinda fits in there is any class three felony or above," said Bullard.Â
To detain someone pretrial, prosecutors will be required to show proof those who are arrested have committed the crime, pose a threat to the safety of someone, or that there is a threat of the defendant fleeing.
This won't be the case immediately, but there will be deadline before cash bail is a thing of the past.
"By January 1st, 2023, the whole system will be in place," said Bullard.Â
The process for the elimination of cash bail won't be seen immediately.
Once the new year begins, the process of getting more staff available to handle more speedy pretrials will begin to go into effect.
