Public defenders receive money to help with SAFE-T workload

DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) — The SAFE-T Act has completely changed the way courts do business in Illinois. Now, public defender's offices are receiving money from the State Supreme Court to assist with the increased workload.

"We're working very hard to keep up with the increased demand on the office," Michelle Sanders, the Chief Macon County Public Defender, told WAND News.

Under the new law, court staff run a report on each suspect, before their pre-trial hearing. This helps the state's attorney and public defender's offices make their cases to a judge as to whether a suspects should be held in jail until a verdict is reached in their trial.

"We need to know background information on our clients. We need to know: are they working, are they in treatment, do they have somewhere to go if it's a situation where they can't go home," Sanders explained.

The entire timeline for cases is also being fast tracked in the new system. Suspects used to appear for a bond hearing and then come back, typically a week later, for an arraignment. Now both happen in one hearing.

"So therefore preliminary hearings are getting set that much more quickly, so there's a lot quicker turnaround," Sanders added.

This means her staff has to work faster, and take a closer look at charges for each case.

"To make sure the charges are accurate, to make sure there are facts to support the charges, because the burden of proof is slightly higher than it used to be," Sanders explained.

But now, she's getting help. Lawmakers allocated $10-million during the legislative session, to assist public defender's offices. The State Supreme Court allocates the funds, and provided $125,000 to Macon County. Sanders plans to use the money to pay for contract attorneys, office equipment and digital evidence storage.

"We're seeing more body cams, as we are seeing more squad videos, everything is recorded now — ring doorbell cameras. We have to sift through all of those and there is some technology that would help us being able to do that a little more efficiently," Sanders said.

The money is a one-time payment. However, lawmakers could vote to allocate more funds to public defender offices next year.