Henderson County State’s Attorney Colby Hathaway Explains Changes to Come with Signed Criminal Justice and Police Reform Bill in IL

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House Bill 3653, or the Criminal Justice and Police Reform Bill in Illinois has been signed into law by Governor JB Pritzker. Under the passing of the new bill, changes will take effect to the current criminal justice system, including the elimination of cash bail in 2023. Henderson County State’s Attorney Colby Hathaway explains:

“Part of the issues many law enforcement and State’s Attorneys throughout the state saw were that the bill really restricted the judges ability to hold a defendant pre-trial. The legislature did add a few more offenses and changed some of the language that will give judges a little more discretion to hold certain defendants without bail. One of the important ones was felons in possession of firearms. That was added to an offense that now a defendant can now be held without bail. I think that was a positive change. I’d like to see judges having more discretion to hold defendants without bail pre-trail. There is still a couple of years before this goes into effect, so I am hoping the legislation is going to come back and take a look at some of these issues that are still out there and really listen to the different stakeholders, keep public safety in mind and maybe make some changes to this bill.”

As for bond hearings under the new bill, the current 48 hour time frame would change to 24 hours for certain offenses. Meanwhile, all law enforcement officers would be required to utilize body cameras by 2025.

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