Cook County Circuit Court Chief Judge Timothy Evans (Photo courtesy of Circuit Court of Cook County)

Cook County Circuit Court Chief Judge Timothy Evans ordered cash-bail reform changes July 17 for procedures in bail hearings and pre-trial release.

As of Sept. 18, criminal court judges at 26^th and California, and the other suburban branches of the circuit court, will not assign a money bond in felony cases without evaluating a defendant’s ability to pay. Cash-bail reform advocates believe these changes may significantly reduce the number of people held in pretrial custody at Cook County Jail.

Under Evans’ order, a pre-trial services team will evaluate people charged with felonies and determine a person’s ability to pay a bond, which has been traditionally about 10 percent of a set bail amount. For nonviolent offenders, judges will be encouraged to consider a personal recognizance or “I-Bond” or no bond at all. In cases where judges formerly set very high bails for dangerous, repeat offenders, judges will be encouraged to set no bond and keep defendants in jail until their trials.

“The first thing we will determine is whether arrestee is a danger to society,” Evans said. The pre-trial officer will be armed with a public safety assessment tool and rated as low risk or high risk, Evans said. Judges will use the least-restrictive method to insure a low-risk defendant returns for his or her court date, Evans said. Also, defendants who are presently in Cook County Jail because they cannot afford to pay a bond will be able to request a new bond hearing after Sept. 18.

Advocates for bail reform were cautiously optimistic.

“We really think [the order] has the possibility to reduce pop at Cook County Jail and make sure no one is held just because they don’t have enough money to pay bond,” said Matthew McLaughlin, co-founder of the Chicago Community Bond Fund.

“We’re looking at people who were charged and already going to be released but they had to pay a bond,” McLaughlin said. “[The process] should be governed by the U.S. Constitution: There’s a presumption of innocence until proven guilty, and that should be honored.”

According to McLaughlin, 62 percent of people in Cook County Jail are currently locked up only because they cannot post bonds.

“More than 4,000 people are being incarcerated pretrial at Cook County Jail for being poor,” he said in a statement. It costs $160 per day to incarcerate an inmate at the jail, and some trials can take up to a year.

Changing the bond process in Cook County will trickle down into the state prison system and reduce the population there too, McLaughlin thinks. Being held in jail, even for 48 hours, can cause life-destroying effects such as losing a job, a car or causing a childcare crisis in a family.

“People who are out and fighting their case from a place of freedom are less likely to take a plea deal just to get out of jail,” McLaughlin said. “People are able to stabilize their lives, and the likelihood of getting their lives together increases.”

The Chicago Community Bond Fund has bailed 77 people out of jail since 2015 with a seed fund of $35,000.

“We haven’t forfeited a bond yet,” McLaughlin said. “We’ve got people making their court dates and trying to regain that stability they had before taken into custody.”

McLaughlin said his group would be organizing a volunteer court-watch system to make sure judges are abiding by the new rule.

Evans said after Jan. 1, 2018 pre-trial assessments will take place for misdemeanor offenders as well. The court will also engage other strategies to help defendants keep their court dates, such as text message and phone reminders or assistance with transportation to court.

“There are too many of my clients in the Cook County Jail simply because they are poor and cannot afford bail,” said Public Defender Amy P. Campanelli in a statement. “Chief Judge Evans’ administrative order follows the law while helping to ensure that when bail is set, it is affordable.”

Cook County State’s Attorney Kimberly Foxx called the order a step toward “meaningful bail reform.” The order “provides important guidance for the judiciary and the entire criminal justice system on the need to reduce our reliance on monetary bond,” Foxx said in a statement. “There is often no clear relationship between the posting of a cash bond and securing the safety of the community or the appearance of a defendant.”

Foxx has introduced a new procedure for prosecutors to recommend a bail amount or no cash bail for defendants during bail hearings. Formerly, prosecutors just proffered charges without input to the judge.

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—Chief Judge Evans announces changes in cash-bail system  —