Pretrial Services assists with the administration of justice, honors due process and the presumption of innocence and supports public safety. The Adult Probation Department’s Pretrial Services Division is an essential part of the Circuit Court’s pretrial system. The Division has three main functions: pre-release, post-release and court liaison.
Pre-release staff completes the Public Safety Assessment and conducts social history interviews for defendants prior to the initial appearance (previously known as “bond court”). Post-release staff is responsible for monitoring individuals who are ordered to pretrial supervision after being released from the jail to await trial, including defendants who are assigned to the county’s deferred prosecution programs. Court liaison staff is responsible for providing status updates and non-compliance information to the court for supervised individuals, as well as documenting the events of the trial process.
Information for People on Pretrial Supervision
When you are ordered to supervision, you will receive contact information for the officer assigned to supervise your case. If you did not receive this information or do not have this information available, you should call the reception desk for the court location where you were ordered to supervision. Be prepared to provide your name, case number or docket number, and other identifying information as needed. Contact information for each location is below.
If you have questions about your conditions of release, your next court date or about the pretrial supervision process, you should contact your pretrial officer.
Your pretrial officer will attempt to contact you before any scheduled court dates to remind you of the details. It is important to make sure you update your officer with your current phone number, email address and mailing address.
You can also sign up for the county's automated court reminder system to receive phone calls or text messages notifying you of upcoming court dates. You can sign up by providing your phone number and information about your case (docket number, bond number or central booking number).
If you are ordered to observe a curfew and are placed on electronic monitoring, you should contact your pretrial officer to ask for a change in your curfew schedule. Temporary changes may be granted for verified healthcare appointments, unexpected changes to work or school schedules, court dates, or other unavoidable circumstances.
If your work, school, or family care schedule has changed and you want to have your curfew hours changed, you must request that from the judge overseeing your case. Contact your lawyer or public defender to have them request this change.
If you have an emergency that will cause you to violate your curfew (hospitalization, accident, etc.), you should contact your pretrial officer as soon as possible. Make sure you keep copies of any hospital admission or discharge paperwork, accident or police reports, and other documents that verify the emergency.
If you miss a scheduled appointment with your pretrial officer, you should immediately call them to reschedule. If you do not contact your officer, your officer can file a non-compliance report with the court that can lead to a violation of your conditions of release. The judge may modify your conditions to be more restrictive.
If you miss a court appearance, you should call your pretrial officer to check on the status of your case. They will tell you the best way to proceed to bring your case back before the court to address the failure to appear.
You can also sign up for automatic phone calls and text message alerts that will let you know when you have an upcoming court date. All you need is a phone number and a way to identify your case (docket number, bond number, or central booking number).
Before making any plans to travel outside of Cook County or outside the State of Illinois, you should talk to your pretrial officer. Depending on your conditions of release, you may be restricted from traveling outside of the county. You may be required to file a motion before the court to request permission to travel outside of the county. You should be prepared to explain where you plan to travel, the dates of travel, where you will be staying and your reason for traveling. The judge will make a decision regarding your request to travel.
Cook County has several deferred prosecution programs operated by the State's Attorney's Office. These programs offer people a chance to avoid prosecution in exchange for completing certain steps and avoiding new arrests. Deferred prosecution may include reporting to a pretrial officer, participating in programs like employment training or cognitive behavioral interventions, or participating in counseling or mentorship programs.
People who successfully complete their deferred prosecution programs may have the charges dismissed and may be eligible to have the arrest expunged. Contact your lawyer or public defender for more information.
Pretrial Services Contact Information and Locations
If you are on pretrial supervision and wish to speak to your pretrial officer and do not have their direct phone number, you should call the main number of the facility to which you report.
Chicago Locations & Contacts
Chicago Location
Criminal Division Administration Building
2650 S. California Avenue, Lower Level
Chicago, Illinois 60608
TEL: (773) 674-3282
FAX: (773) 674-7352
Chicago Location
Harrison & Kedzie
3150 W. Flournoy Street
Chicago, Illinois 60612
TEL: (773) 265-8930
FAX: (773) 265-8959
Chicago Location
Grand & Harrison
5555 W. Grand Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60639
TEL: (773) 804-6130
FAX: (773) 804-6157
Chicago Location
111th & Ellis
727 E. 111th Street
Chicago, Illinois 60628
TEL: (773) 982-3030
FAX: (773) 982-3020
Suburban Cook County Locations & Contacts
Skokie
Second Municipal Division
5600 Old Orchard Road, Room 145
Skokie, Illinois 60076
TEL: (847) 470-7370
FAX: (847) 470-7533
Rolling Meadows
Third Municipal Division
2121 Euclid Avenue, Room 057
Rolling Meadows, Illinois 60008
TEL: (847) 818-2330
FAX: (847) 818-2943
Maywood
Fourth Municipal Division
1500 S. Maybrook Drive, Room 062
Maywood, Illinois 60153
TEL: (708) 865-6014
FAX: (708) 865-4799
Bridgeview
Fifth Municipal Division
10220 S. 76th Avenue, Room 057
Bridgeview, Illinois 60455
TEL: (708) 974-6330
FAX: (708) 974-6070
Markham
Sixth Municipal Division
16501 S. Kedzie Parkway, Room 074
Markham, Illinois 60428
TEL: (708) 232-4230
FAX: (708) 232-4212
Pretrial Services Topics of Interest
Pre-release operations are an important component of the initial appearance process. Individuals arrested for a felony offense and booked into the Cook County Jail will generally be brought to court for their initial appearance within 24 hours of arrest. Before this appearance, pre-release staff conduct the Public Safety Assessment (PSA) to determine an individual’s risk for failure to appear or for new criminal activity if they are released from custody. The PSA only considers the individual’s criminal history and the current charge to score them on these two areas of risk. The failure to appear scale is scored from 1 to 6, with 1 being minimal risk and 6 being elevated risk. The new criminal activity scale is also scored from 1 to 6, with 1 being minimal risk and 6 being elevated risk. A “violence flag” is also generated to indicate when an individual is at an elevated risk for a new violent offense upon release.
Pre-release staff also conduct a statutorily required interview of defendants that covers their living arrangements, employment or education status, and history of behavioral health treatment. The completed interview is combined with the PSA results and sent to the court, the State’s Attorney’s Office, and the defense counsel to help make decisions on conditions of release. Pre-release staff present the two risk scores and the violence flag to the court, along with a recommended mode of release. The recommendation is based on a decision-making framework that accounts for the two risk scores and the violence flag, as well as the severity of the current charge. Options for release include release without conditions, release with monitoring (court date reminders and arrest record checks), release with pretrial supervision, release to the Sheriff’s electronic monitoring program and maximum conditions if released.
The main goal of post-release operations is to use the least restrictive means possible to ensure defendants appear in court and avoid new criminal activity. Post-release operations are the supervising authority for defendants charged with felonies who have been granted pretrial release with a condition of supervision. A judge may order pretrial supervision during the initial appearance or at any subsequent appearance while a case is pending disposition. Individuals are not given a specific term of supervision; the judge may keep the individual on supervision until their case is disposed or they may remove supervision as a condition of release before disposition.
Post-release officers are responsible for monitoring conditions of release and reporting back to the court on compliance and progress. Individuals are responsible for reporting to their assigned officer over the phone and in-person, with the frequency of contact determined by their PSA risk level. Pretrial officers also conduct regular criminal history checks to determine if an individual has had further contact with law enforcement, verify employment or education, and provide court date reminders for scheduled hearings. Individuals who express a desire for behavioral health treatment, housing support or other needs may receive a referral and support from their assigned officer.
Conditions of release may include:
- Reporting to a probation officer
- Avoiding certain people, businesses or places
- Not possessing a firearm or dangerous weapon
- Electronic monitoring of curfew hours
- Electronic monitoring of 24-hour home detention
- Participation in external programming
- Drug testing
Defendants ordered to a curfew or 24-hour home detention may be placed on electronic monitoring (EM). EM involves wearing a device around an ankle that monitors compliance with conditions of release. Adult Probation uses two types of devices for EM, depending on the circumstances of the case or an individual's living arrangements.
GPS devices are used to monitor defendants charged with certain offenses involving intimate partners, like domestic battery, stalking and harassment. These devices allow the department to create an "exclusion zone" around a protected area, and will alert the department if the device is detected within that area. Some curfews are also monitored with an "inclusion zone" that alerts the department if a device is not detected within a designated area during curfew hours.
Radio Frequency (RF) devices are used to monitor curfew hours. These devices communicate with a base station installed in a residence that will alert the department if the device is not detected during curfew hours. Curfews may also be monitored with a GPS device, using an "inclusion zone" to ensure an individual remains in their residence during curfew hours.