SAFE-T Act, experience at center of DeKalb County State’s Attorney’s election race

Editor’s note: To read more about the candidates for DeKalb County State’s Attorney, visit shawlocal.com/daily-chronicle/election. To view a video forum hosted by Shaw Local with both candidates, visit shawlocal.com/video.

SYCAMORE – On Nov. 5, DeKalb County voters will choose their next head prosecutor, a newcomer, to lead the county state attorney’s office.

Incumbent Rick Amato, a Republican, will not seek reelection after two terms. Instead, voters will pick among two new faces to lead the county’s criminal prosecutors, manage a $2 million budget and team of prosecuting attorneys, represent the County government in court and work with area law enforcement to target crime in communities across DeKalb County.

In a joint video interview with Shaw Local News Network, Democrat Charles “Chuck” Rose and Republican Riley Oncken both said they believe they’re the best fit for the job.

Both candidates live in Sycamore, practice law at Sycamore-based private firms, and have served on nonprofit boards for various local organizations. Both hold degrees from Northern Illinois University’s law school.

Oncken has never worked as a prosecutor but said he doesn’t believe its a roadblock to the job, pointing instead to his time in private practice and his work as an elected official on the DeKalb County Board. Rose hasn’t worked as a prosecutor since the 1990s, but said he believes that experience and his former work as a police officer gives him a leg up. Both said they’ve got positive relations with area law enforcement agencies, and gave credit to Amato for what they called a well-run office. Both said they’ve assured Amato’s staff they can keep their jobs if elected.

About the candidates

Oncken, 45, lives with his wife and four daughters in Sycamore. He has nearly 20 years in private practice in the county, where he’s represented clients in family law, criminal defense, civil cases, real estate cases and more, according to his law firm. He said he believes his age and experience serving two terms on the DeKalb County Board from 2008 to 2015 will help him oversee the state’s attorney’s office.

Oncken said gun violence (he said he’s a law-abiding gun owner himself), crimes against children and domestic violence are the top priorities he’d like to tackle if elected. In a virtual candidate forum, Oncken also mentioned narcotics, specifically fentanyl possession, as a top issue in the county. Oncken said if elected, he would take a supportive leadership approach, working with the office’s current prosecutors already doing the job, and bringing in his own staff with experience prosecuting violent crimes to help.

“This job is extremely important,” Oncken said. “I think that the next state’s attorney is going to have a lot of potential hurdles and issues to deal with as we continue to navigate the SAFE-T Act, as we continue to navigate issues with police and the lack of staffing issues that continue to plague our police departments at this time.”

Rose, 66, who lives with his wife in Sycamore and runs a private law firm representing families of children with special needs, said he believes he’s got more specific experience than his opponent that is relevant for the office. Rose worked in the 1980s as a law enforcement officer, for five years as a deputy in the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office, three with the Waterman Police Department, and one on the North Central Narcotics Task Force. He went to law school first in Colorado and then returned to Illinois to work as a prosecutor in the 1990s, first from 1991 to 1995 as assistant state’s attorney in DeKalb County and then until 1998 in Ogle County. Rose also is a trustee on the DeKalb County Regional Board of Education.

Rose said he intends to try cases himself as a prosecutor if elected, and would retain the first assistant state’s attorney structure in the office. He said he wants to also focus on retaining good prosecutors and recruiting new talent, including building a hiring pipeline through NIU’s Law School. He said he would prioritize getting cases to trial that have been pending for too long, instituting a program to target people more likely to reoffend, and ask for lengthier prison time for those convicted of serious crimes.

“Over the last 40 years, I have dedicated my life to making DeKalb County a better place to live, work and raise a family,” Rose said. “[...] So I think taking on the role of DeKalb County State’s Attorney is a natural extension of that work allowing me to continue serving the people of our county. I would bring to the job hands on experience that will allow me to make an impact on day one.”

From the questionnaires: On the SAFE-T Act

Oncken: Although well intentioned, I do not believe that the SAFE-T Act is good for the Illinois judicial system. It adds additional burdens to State’s Attorneys’ Offices throughout the state. The SAFE-T Act requires significantly longer detention hearings and additional paperwork, but the legislature did not provide additional funding to State’s Attorney’s Offices for this to be implemented. It also handcuffs judges from being able to detain people who, in their discretion, deserve to be detained. It allows a “catch and release” system for low-level offenders to commit crimes without consequences. When I grew up, I was taught that my actions had consequences. There are defendants being released who are charged with offenses that have caused significant harm to victims, even though there is significant evidence that they have committed the offense and may harm others while released. I do not feel that allowing people to be released to go home to their families while their alleged victims are dead or seriously injured is fair or just. The Act needs to be significantly improved if we are going to be stuck with it.

Rose: When first proposed, I had a negative opinion of the Pretrial Fairness Act. Like many others I was of the belief that the rates of people failing to appear and committing further offenses would see a huge increase. A study by the Loyola Chicago Center for Criminal Justice, published Sept. 24, 2024, showed that in those two areas, the rates remained the same. A report recently presented to the DeKalb County Law and Justice Committee showed the same for DeKalb County. While one year’s worth of data does not show a trend, it does negate my belief that there would be huge increases in those areas.

That being said there are still needed improvements for problematic language in the SAFE-T Act and the Pretrial Fairness Act.

It is helping those first-time offenders to remain working and supporting their families. It is “hurting” the State’s Attorney’s Office in that there is a marked increase in the paperwork needed to be generated and the time spent in court by the Assistant State’s Attorneys.

From the questionnaires: On Karina’s Bill

Do you support Karina’s Bill, which aims to strengthen enforcement of the removal of firearms from those with orders of protection against them? More broadly, are Illinois laws too strict – or not strict enough – when it comes to gun rights and gun control and what changes would you advocate for?

Rose: The State’s Attorney and the Assistants take an Oath that they will follow the law and be free from bias and personal opinion when enforcing the law. We do not decide whether the laws as written are either to strict or not strict enough. We follow the law as written and would prosecute any offenses related to removal of rearms from those with orders of protection.

Oncken: It is a slippery slope when the judicial system allows someone’s rearms to be taken without due process or a finding of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Like the SAFE-T Act, Karina’s Bill is well-intentioned, but the unintended consequence is that law-abiding hunters, target shooters, and other sportsmen are having their 2nd Amendment rights violated based upon mere allegations of abuse. While victims/survivors need to feel safe, my experience is that no court order or law will prevent an abuser from doing harm if he or she is truly intent on doing it. I do not believe that taking rearms from everyone subject to an order of protection is necessary to deal with the small minority of cases where rearms are used by abusers against their victims. More broadly, I believe that Illinois Legislature has eroded the 2nd Amendment enough and that existing gun laws need to be better enforced, rather than creating more laws taking away our Constitutional rights.