CHICAGO – Today, State Representative Margaret Croke (IL-12) introduced HB4468, which would limit those charged with egregious violent crimes from being released on electronic monitoring. The legislation would prevent those charged with attempted first degree murder, reckless homicide, armed carjacking, sex crimes that would require the defendant to register as a sex offender, and armed habitual offenders from being released on electronic monitoring.
“Nothing is more important to me than the safety of Illinoisans, and I’ve been deeply concerned by the troubling uptick in violent crime across Chicago and our state that we’ve seen in recent months,” said State Representative Margaret Croke. “When the electronic monitoring program was created, no one imagined that more than 75% of participants have been charged with a violent offense. It is our responsibility as legislators to take action, and the responsibility of our judicial system to be transparent with the public about the data on this program. I believe this bill to restrict those charged with certain violent crimes from being released on electronic monitoring is a commonsense measure to help prevent crime and create safer communities.”
There is a concerning lack of public data on the number of people on electronic monitoring and the number of crimes committed by those out on electronic monitoring. However, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart recently estimated there are more than 2,600 people on electronic monitoring in Cook County and more than 75% of those have been charged with violent crimes, which does not include the more than 1,000 people that have been publicly estimated to be in Chief Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County Tim Evans’ program. Recent news reports also estimate that more than 130 people have committed violent crimes while out on electronic monitoring since the start of 2021.
“Public safety is of the utmost importance for every community. We need more data from our court system to take a closer look at who is on the electronic monitoring program and how it is working to get to the source of the increase in violence we’ve seen in recent months. Keeping our communities safe is our ultimate goal, and preventing those who have been charged with certain violent crimes from being released on electronic monitoring is an important step to take,” said State Senator Sara Feigenholtz (IL-6).
State Senator Feigenholtz (IL-6) will sponsor similar legislation in the Senate. The full text of HB4468 can be found on ILGA.com.
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