SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) — Two local Republican lawmakers have introduced reforms for the Pretrial Fairness Act with backing from the Sangamon County Sheriff and State's Attorney.

Democrats and Republicans have heard Gov. JB Pritzker and House Speaker Emanuel "Chris" Welch said they are open to tweaks to the SAFE-T Act. Rep. Mike Coffey (R-Springfield) told reporters Tuesday that all felonies must be detainable and judges should have more discretion during pretrial hearings.

"I had a friend and a customer that talked about how they had storage units that were robbed in the morning," Coffey said. "They went down and were processed, and in the afternoon they came back and got what they didn't get in the morning."

Coffey's plan would allow courts to deny pretrial release if someone is charged with any felony and prosecutors allege they pose a threat to public safety or are likely to miss court. Pretrial release could also be denied if the defendant has been convicted of two or more of the same felonies or misdemeanors.

Coffey and Rep. Wayne Rosenthal (R-Morrisonville) wanted advice from experts while crafting the proposal, so they worked with Sangamon County Sheriff Paula Crouch and State's Attorney John Milhiser.

"It's not throwing everything out or bringing back cash bail," Milhiser said. "We don't need to do it. We just need to make sure and ensure that those individuals in our communities causing crime and making it more dangerous are detained."

Still, the governor and many Democrats said the Pretrial Fairness Act is working. Pritzker told reporters at an unrelated event last week that Illinois is doing a better job of justly holding violent criminals in jail instead of forcing people who cannot afford bail to sit behind bars.

"We have virtually the same percentage of people showing up for trial under the SAFE-T Act than we did before the SAFE-T Act," Pritzker said. "So, it is effective at keeping violent criminals in jail and letting those who are not violent criminals await trial [without] serving in jail."

Yet, Sheriff Crouch stressed that something must be done to address repeat offenders.

"There's no accountability for the crimes that they're committing because they can commit a crime and they're either detained or in some cases they don't even make it to the jail," Crouch said. "They're issued a citation with a court notice to come in."

The Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice told WAND News this legislation is an opportunistic attempt by Republicans to undermine criminal justice reforms and make communities less safe. This organization said the success of the Pretrial Fairness Act is undeniable.

"Judges are receiving more information and spending more time on pretrial release decisions, the number of people incarcerated pretrial has dropped statewide, and while we always have more work to do, our state has seen a drastic decrease in both violent and property crime," the organization said.

Advocates also noted that the state's leading anti-gender-based violence groups worked alongside criminal justice organizations to pass the Pretrial Fairness Act because it ensures courts focus attention on cases where there is an allegation of or risk of violence. The Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice said expanding the list of cases eligible for detention to include charges where no one was at risk of harm would weaken the quality of hearings and result in incarceration of people who pose no threat to the community.

"It is important to note that many of the charges Rep. Coffey and Rosenthal are seeking to make detainable have never been eligible for immediate preventive detention in Illinois, including under the money bond system," advocates said.

The coalition is calling on the General Assembly to reject Republican efforts to jail more people and instead fully fund the Pretrial Success Act to expand access to voluntary substance use and mental health treatment, case management services and other supports for people awaiting trial. 

Copyright 2026. WAND TV. All rights reserved.