The Illinois legislature passed the Pretrial Success Act as part of the Illinois state budget. Building upon the successful implementation of the Pretrial Fairness Act, which made Illinois the first state to completely end money bond, this grant based program will dramatically increase access to health and human services for people awaiting trial.
Since the Pretrial Fairness Act took effect in September, more people are maintaining employment, housing, and positive family and social connections while awaiting trial in the community. The Pretrial Success Act will help ensure that people returning to the community have access to mental health and substance use disorder assessment, case management, and treatment according to clinical standards. Funding for transportation and childcare will also be available to increase the likelihood that a person is able to return to court.
“By increasing access to services, The Pretrial Success Act will improve community safety and court appearance rates,” said Representative Maurice West. “These resources will help people minimize future contact with the legal system by addressing underlying challenges that may have brought someone into contact with law enforcement. By reforming our pretrial system, we are building safer communities.”
“The old money bond system required family members to pay for their loved ones’ freedom; it further destabilized the same communities most impacted by violence by extracting millions of dollars from our state’s most marginalized neighborhoods,” said said Rebecca Levin of TASC, a member organization of the Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice. “The Pretrial Success Act will help these communities heal by prioritizing increasing access to health and human services for people awaiting trial.”
“Illinois is leading the nation in pretrial reform. The passage of the Pretrial Success Act has brought us a step closer to righting the wrongs of the money bond system,” said Senator Elgie Sims. “The Pretrial Fairness Act is ensuring that more people maintain employment, housing, and positive family and social connections while awaiting trial in the community. Now, by increasing access to community-based health and human services, we can further increase their rates of success while awaiting trial.”
By January 2025, the Illinois Department of Human Services will provide grants to local organizations in five communities as part of a six-month pilot of the Pretrial Success Act. In July 2025, implementation will expand statewide, with recommendations for funding in each community provided by a local advisory council.
The Pretrial Success Act received a tremendous amount of support from communities across Illinois with more than 100 community organizations and social service providers joining together to advocate for the program.
