June 24, 2019

The Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Pretrial Practices is hosting a series of public hearings as it works towards its final report and recommendations. The Commission would like to gather input from Illinois stakeholders regarding pretrial reform, and recently hosted hearings in Chicago and Freeport.

The Commission recently released its preliminary report concerning pretrial reform in the Illinois criminal justice system. A final report with recommendations regarding the administration of pretrial justice in Illinois will be released in December 2019.

The preliminary report is available at http://www.illinoiscourts.gov/Probation/12-18.pdf

The Commission has already held public hearings in Springfield and Champaign/Urbana. Video from those hearings can be found at http://www.illinoiscourts.gov/Probation/pretrial_practices.asp.

The purposes of the public hearings are: (1) to provide information on pretrial reform to persons in attendance; (2) to receive the comments of individuals, organizations, and entities interested in voicing their opinions on pretrial reform; and (3) to answer pretrial questions that may be posed. Oral testimony will be limited to three (3) minutes in length. Written testimony will be incorporated into the hearing record.

Written public comment on pretrial reform can be submitted in the following ways:

Email: Pretrialhearings@illinoiscourts.gov
Mail:  Pretrial Comments  
AOIC Probation Division
3101 Old Jacksonville Road  
Springfield IL 62704

Public comment will close on June 30, 2019.

After the close of the public comment period, the Commission will review and analyze the submitted comments along with the testimony from the public hearings and incorporate these materials in preparing the final report and recommendations to the Illinois Supreme Court.