ILLINOIS (WAND)- Illinois' cash bail system is going away January 1st. Now, the Sangamon County State's Attorney is sharing his concerns with the changes.

Dan Wright said in a press release, he is worried about the Pretrial Fairness Act, and the safety of Illinois residents. He believes, starting next year, a judge will not be able to detain a person until trial- unless they are charged with specific forcible felonies. Wright said judges will not be able to look at suspects' risk to the public, or their criminal history. He added that this will take away a judge's authority and discretion which is needed to protect citizens.

WAND News spoke with an attorney on the Steering Committee on Equity and Justice that helped the Illinois legislature draft the Safe-T Act. She said the bill needs to be looked at in its entirety.

"There's a section that requires review upon certain felonies, an absolute requirement that a judge perform this hearing to assess someone's safety. Outside those required instances, it also talks about other instances when the court- upon petition from the state's attorney- can review, regardless of the charge," Chloe Pedersen explained.

In the portion of the statute, immediately following the section Wright addresses, the law states: "Decisions regarding release, conditions of release and detention prior trial should be individualized, and no single factor or standard should be used exclusively to make a condition or detention decision." 

It goes on to state that the court should consider whether a suspect is dangerous based on the nature of their charge, their criminal history, psychological history, whether they have access to weapons or whether they were on parole when the alleged crime was committed.

There continues to be debate as to how the Pretrial Fairness Act should be read. WAND News has reached out to the Sangamon, Macon, Piatt and DeWitt State's Attorneys to get a better understanding of their reading of the law, however none have returned our calls.

Wright is now calling on lawmakers to make changes to the act before January 1st, in an effort to protect public safety. You can read his entire statement here:

Sangamon County State's Attorney shares concerns about Pretrial Fairness Act