Kane sheriff, state’s attorney weigh in on SAFE-T Act decision by Kankakee judge

Kane County Sheriff Ron Hain, state Sen. Don DeWitte, R-St. Charles and Kane County State’s Attorney Jamie Mosser are weighing in after a Kankakee judge ruled late Wednesday night that certain portions of the SAFE-T Act are unconstitutional.

Thomas Cunnington, chief judge of the 21st Judicial Circuit, ruled that the provision of the law that eliminates cash bail for defendants deprives “the courts of their inherent authority to administer and control their courtrooms and to set bail.”

Cunnington ruled the pretrial provisions of the SAFE-T Act “violate this separation of powers principle underlying our system of governance by depriving the courts of their inherent authority to administer and control their courtrooms and to set bail.”

However, the ruling does not apply to Kane County, but only to the counties involved in the lawsuit. Kane County was not part of the lawsuit filed earlier this year, when nearly 60 prosecutors in Illinois challenged the SAFE-T Act by filing lawsuits against Gov. JB Pritzker, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and others.

In a statement, DeWitte said he “applauds” Cunnington for the decision.

“Legislative Democrats thumbed their noses at the Illinois Constitution when they took it upon themselves to insert the legislative branch of government into the separate but co-equal judicial branch with regard to criminal justice.

“Had Democrats included Republicans in the process and heeded warnings that their hastily-passed SAFE-T Act was filled with constitutionality concerns, we would not be facing the utter chaos that is certain to ensue since this decision was handed down just three days before counties are expected to implement no-cash-bail provisions of the Act. There are 30+ counties that will now have to scramble to determine whether they can put implementation on hold or if they must move forward with the changes on Jan. 1,” DeWitte stated.

Hain stated in a news release: “As of today’s date, we are still positioned to move ahead as ‘business as usual’ come Jan. 1, 2023, with enhanced training, body camera implementation and policies to meet all of the SAFE-T Act needs and requirements.”

Mosser said she is “reviewing the decision within our circuit for its applicability here and in other counties.”

“We are also waiting to see if the Attorney General [Kwame Raoul] is filing any motions with the Illinois Supreme Court prior to making any determinations,” she wrote in a text message.

The current cash bail system, which in most cases allows offenders to post a dollar amount to be released from custody pretrial, will be replaced by one in which a judge weighs the individual’s risk to the community and potential for fleeing prosecution in determining whether pretrial release will be revoked.

Capitol News Illinois and Shaw Local reporter Felix Sarver contributed to this report.