Announcement, Press Release |
Starting on Tuesday, April 1, the Cook County Sheriff will stop accepting new Electronic Monitoring (“EM”) participants and all new court orders to EM will be sent to the Adult Probation Department Pretrial Services (“APD”). Operating under the Office of the Chief Judge (“OCJ”), APD has a long history running its EM program and will continue to operate the program based on the procedures it has developed over the past fourteen years.
In advance of this transition, Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans issued the following statement:
“As the Sheriff’s Office winds down its electronic monitoring program, it is worth emphasizing the specific role that electronic monitoring serves in the pretrial phase of a case.
After someone is arrested and accused of a crime, but before trial, the accused is presumed innocent. There is a general expectation under state law that they remain free in order to help prepare for their defense, to continue to support their family, and to enjoy the blessings of liberty.
There are only two exceptions to this expectation:
- Where the accused, after a hearing, has been found to be a real and present threat to an individual or community, and
- Where the accused, after a hearing, has been found to be a flight risk.
Where these exceptions exist, the accused can be detained pretrial.
During this pretrial phase in Illinois, the accused can be placed on electronic monitoring as a condition of pretrial release if they meet certain requirements under state law. If, after a hearing, the court determines that no less restrictive condition or combination of conditions short of electronic monitoring are available that would both protect the public and ensure that the defendant appears at court, then the court can order electronic monitoring.
Electronic monitoring can be more humane than full pretrial detention and seeks to recognize the accused’s presumption of innocence. However, its conditions still impose significant restrictions on the liberty of the accused while also not providing the same level of protection for public safety that detention might. Electronic monitoring is generally used when a defendant might require more supervision than would be available under other types of conditions of pretrial release. In this way, electronic monitoring might be best referred to as something of a middle ground between being detained in jail pretrial and being released with no conditions.
The Adult Probation Department within the Office of the Chief Judge has operated an electronic monitoring program for fourteen years and has significant operational experience that it will rely on during the upcoming transition.”