Rietz says state’s attorney’s office ready for cash-bail elimination | News
Julia Rietz joined Brian Barnhart on Tuesday’s edition of “A Penny for Your Thoughts.”
URBANA — It’s dress rehearsal week in the office of Champaign County State’s attorney Julia Rietz, preparing for the start of the new system that determines who is held in jail prior to trial and who is not.
In July, the Illinois Supreme Court cleared the way for the Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity-Today (SAFE-T) Act to take effect, finding its components — including the elimination of cash bail for criminal defendants — to be constitutional.
Originally passed in 2021, it had been challenged as unconstitutional in lawsuits filed by more than 50 downstate state’s attorneys’ and sheriffs’ offices.
“We’re prepared for Monday,” Rietz said on WDWS’ “A Penny for Your Thoughts” Tuesday. “This week, I’m having my people pretend like it’s (started). Last night, I sent an email out and asked, ‘How would we handle this case? How would we apply it to this situation?’”
Rietz said Judge Brett Olmstead will handle arraignment court.
“He’s 100 percent in on this making sure it will work,” Rietz said. “We will have a dry run tomorrow. We’ve been meeting regularly.”
She said she believes Champaign County is better prepared for the change than some other counties.
Rietz said her office has been ready for the change for some time, having met with the judges, the public defender’s office and jail personnel.
“Of course there are some tweaks,” she said.
The new law won’t just affect people arrested on criminal charges in the future. Some already in jail will be freed for at least the time being.
Cases will be broken into three categories for those already in custody.
Anyone in custody on a non-detainable offense must, through their attorney, request a hearing. A judge then must hear the case within seven days.
The hearing deadline for those on detainable offenses is 90 days, while those in custody who pose a threat of willful flight, meaning they have a history of not showing up in court, must be receive a hearing within 60 days.
“Also, the prosecutor has the option to file a petition for someone who has posted bond and is out, and we think is dangerous and should be in custody,” Rietz said.
Detainable offenses are the more serious, non-probationable ones for charges such as murder and those committed by habitual criminals who have a history of weapons offenses — anything such as aggravated discharge of a gun and aggravated battery. Domestic battery is the only misdemeanor that’s potentially a detainable offense.
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What’s not detainable? Property crimes, for one — “and that’s perhaps a big issue if you have repeat burglaries by someone who scoops up armloads of clothes in a store. That’s not detainable for the first offense,” Rietz said.
For repeat offenders, prosecutors can ask that probation be revoked.
Drug cases are not detainable unless a case involves large amounts of cash, indicating the individual arrested is a dealer.
The elimination of cash bail will have an economic impact on counties.
“When people post bond, we hold it,” Rietz said. “We always keep 10 percent as a fee. That’s not going to be available any more.
“If someone is convicted, the bond they’ve posted is applied to their fines and fees. They’ll still be assessed those fines and fees, but we won’t have that money in the bank, so we’ll have to collect that money.”
Rietz said the county is in the middle of the budgeting process, and she noted somehow governmental bodies will have to figure out how to replace the funding that came from cash bail.
Rietz said the SAFE-T Act was written to address Cook County issues, not Champaign County’s and those of small downstate counties.
Asked how the act will affect the revolving door of property crimes and drug offenses, Rietz said it can prove to be a greater tool for prosecutors than the current law.
Under current law, a first-time offender is not detained for those crimes, “but we did make sure that if someone is out on pretrial release and violates that by committing another felony, then we can file a petition to revoke on the first case.”
Under the current law, a defendant who has five or six pending felony retail theft charges, for example, could eventually be out of jail before trial by receiving bond credit for time served.
“Under the new law, for that person we could file a petition to revoke his release based on him committing an offense while he’s out. Again, it’s up to a judge,” Rietz said.
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