McHenry Times

January 1st, the effective date of the SAFE-T Act, is approaching and local governments are preparing for its implementation. Counties are looking to raise taxes to balance budget deficits due to unfunded mandates within the bill. State’s attorneys that have begun the meticulous process of reviewing cases of people being detained pretrial to determine who will be released on January 1st. 

All the while, state-level elected officials and candidates continue to battle over the right course of action moving forward. 100 out of the 102 Illinois state’s attorneys have opposed the SAFE-T Act for various reasons, all Republican candidates and incumbents have opposed the bill, and numerous Democrats have either opposed the bill or stated the wording needs to be changed. Craig Wilcox, a Republican Senator in the 32nd district, is one of those opposed to the law. Wilcox voted against the bill in the legislature.

The SAFE-T Act is a controversial law passed by the Illinois State Legislature in January 2021 that deals with many aspects of criminal justice reform, including the banning of cash bail, prohibiting pre-trial detention for several crimes, and increasing training and equipment requirements for Police Departments. The bill passed the General Assembly unanimously and the Senate by a 32-23 vote. Gov. Pritzker signed the bill a few days later.

“There are three people with the authority to call the Legislature back into session, and they include Gov. Pritzker, Senate President Harmon, and House Speaker Welch. Flaws within the SAFE-T Act are well-known, yet none of these Democrats had the political fortitude to reconvene the Legislature so we could fix this dangerous bill. Now voters are supposed to head to the ballot box and believe Democrats will fix the bill after the election during veto session? They could have called us back at any time and didn’t. Voters need to keep that in mind when they cast their ballot in November,” Wilcox said in a statement. 

Craig Wilcox is the current State Senator (R) for the 32nd District. The 32nd District encompasses much of McHenry County and the communities of McHenry, Woodstock, Antioch, Fox Lake, Ridgefield, and others. Wilcox is running for re-election against Allena Barbato (D).

The Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority (ICJIA) website states that the SAFE-T Act enacts extensive reform impacting many areas of the criminal justice system, including pre-arrest diversion, policing, pretrial, sentencing, and corrections.

The most controversial aspect of the SAFE-T Act is its elimination of cash bail in the state of Illinois. The bill noted it will be “presumed that a defendant is entitled to release on personal recognizance” and may be detained thereafter if they violate certain conditions listed in 725 ILCS 5/110-2.

Police 1 reported that among the major provisions of the SAFE-T Act is one that restricts the level of force officers may use while pursuing an offender or making an arrest if the officer reasonably believes the person can be apprehended at a later date. It will be illegal for law enforcement to shoot a taser at someone’s back, pelvis and head, which currently is a "recommended target" in all police officer training. 

Additionally, body cameras will be made mandatory for all law enforcement agencies by 2025, according to Police 1. Under the law, officers cannot make custodial arrests for Class B misdemeanors, which include criminal trespass and window-peekers. Instead of making an arrest, officers will be required to issue a citation and do not have the authority to remove a person from private or public property unless they are acting in a threatening manner.

Many localities are struggling to find the funding required to implement the SAFE-T Act. The Center Square reported the Kane County Board is discussing its first property tax hike in a decade, claiming they need it to fill a $3 million deficit created by unfunded mandated reforms in the SAFE-T Act.

Recently, State’s Attorney James Glasgow was asked about the SAFE-T Act in an interview with WGN10 Radio where he responded “the bottom line is the law [The SAFE-T Act] is unconstitutional.” Glasgow continued on to reference Article I Section 9 of the Illinois State Constitution, which states, “[a]ll persons shall be bailable by sufficient sureties,” except for capital offenses, death penalty, life in prison, or felonies with mandatory prison.