Top Democrats say they would consider small changes to Illinois’ SAFE-T
Act
[January 15, 2026]
By Ben Szalinski and Jerry Nowicki
SPRINGFIELD — Some of Illinois’ top Democrats say they’re open to
considering targeted changes to Illinois’ controversial SAFE-T Act this
spring if a forthcoming judicial report says they’re needed.
Both Gov. JB Pritzker and House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch,
D-Hillside, say the changes — if ultimately deemed necessary — would be
narrow despite Republicans’ desire to see the law drastically
overhauled. Welch said he is awaiting a report on the law that is still
being crafted by Cook County’s top judge.
State lawmakers passed the SAFE-T Act in January 2021 as part of a
series of initiatives led by the legislative Black Caucus in response to
civil unrest and racial justice conversations after the 2020 murder of
George Floyd. The most controversial part of the law is the Pretrial
Fairness Act, which eliminated cash bail.
Welch and Pritzker noted that it is routine for state lawmakers to
review and tweak any law on the books. The sweeping criminal justice
reform law that passed in 2021 has already been subject to multiple
amendments.
“After a couple of years of data, you know, sometimes you do trailer
legislation,” Welch told Capitol News Illinois. “Is this the time to do
that? It may be, but there may not be anything to do at all.”
Elimination of cash bail
The Pretrial Fairness Act takes wealth out of the equation as judges
determine whether an individual charged with a crime is incarcerated
while awaiting trial. While officers are directed to cite and release
low-level nonviolent offenders rather than arrest them, violent or more
serious crimes can still end in arrest and potential detention pending
trial.
The new system allows state’s attorneys to petition for pretrial
detention, and judges can determine whether to grant it based on an
offender’s risk of reoffending or fleeing prosecution.
The law also instructs courts to take the “least restrictive” means of
ensuring a person’s appearance in court, meaning nonviolent offenders
often end up on electronic monitoring as opposed to awaiting trial from
a jail cell. Proponents note that crime is down since the SAFE-T Act’s
implementation, as is the state’s jail population.
“I think the SAFE-T Act is working,” Sen. Elgie Sims, a Chicago Democrat
who led the law through the Senate, told Capitol News Illinois. “Is it
perfect? No, no law is ever perfect. But again, I think we’ve got data
that shows that communities are more safe because the SAFE-T Act is in
place.”
An October report by the Loyola University Center for Criminal Justice
found monthly pretrial jail populations had fallen 7% statewide since
the PFA went into effect, but pretrial supervision populations had risen
33% during the same period. In Cook County, jail populations had
increased by about 2% despite an initial drop after the PFA became law.
The total statewide population of people awaiting trial on either
electronic monitoring or in a jail cell has actually grown 17% since the
law took effect, according to the October data.
Renewed scrutiny
Opponents of the law during its passage had called on lawmakers to grant
judges greater discretion and to limit the number of circumstances where
the law prohibits them from ordering detention. Since the law’s
implementation, its harshest critics have frequently pointed to
instances of individuals who reoffend, often in cases where a judge has
denied a prosecutor’s request for pretrial detention.
One recent event that’s put renewed scrutiny on the law involves
26-year-old Bethany MaGee, who was lit on fire on an “L” train in
Chicago in November. Prosecutors said Lawrence Reed, the man charged
with terrorism and arson in connection with the case, has been arrested
72 times over the last 30 years, Block Club Chicago reported. He’s been
convicted 15 times, including for arson in 2020 after lighting a fire
outside the Thompson Center, the former state office building in
Chicago.
At the time of the alleged attack on MaGee, Reed was out on electronic
monitoring. State’s attorneys had sought his detention in August as a
threat to public safety after he allegedly physically assaulted a nurse
at a Berwyn hospital. WGN reported that the Cook County judge denied
prosecutors’ request despite the evidence.
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House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, D-Hillside, speaks to reporters
outside his office on Oct. 15, 2025. (Capitol News Illinois photo by
Peter Hancock)
Illinois law requires individuals on electronic monitoring to wear ankle
monitors but entitles them to two days of free movement, or about two
eight-hour periods, per week.
Though some have blamed the SAFE-T Act for Reed’s “L” train crime, Sims
argued the case shows why the state needs to be investing more in mental
health resources.
Possible changes
The state’s Democratic leaders didn’t go into specifics about what
changes, if any, they’re currently considering.
“I think everybody is open to listening to what changes might be made,”
Pritzker said at a November news conference following the “L” incident.
But like Welch, Pritzker added that changing laws is a routine part of
the legislative process. The General Assembly has also amended parts of
the SAFE-T Act since it was first passed, particularly as it pertained
to offenses that are “non-detainable.”
Before the General Assembly makes any changes, Welch said he wants to
see a report from Cook County Chief Judge Charles Beach’s office that is
on track to be released at the end of January.
“If the chief judge comes to me and has some ideas, I’ve told him I’m
going to be all ears because our goal is always to try to make things
better,” Welch said.
Welch added it’s possible the changes don’t have to come from the
General Assembly and can be made administratively by the courts.
Welch said he also plans to have his public safety working group — a
select group of House Democrats that discusses issues behind closed
doors — consider possible changes to the law. Sims said he also has not
identified any specific changes.
“I’m always open to anything that’s going to improve public safety and
make people in our communities more safe and make sure our criminal
legal system is more just,” Sims said.
GOP proposals
Republicans have more specific ideas about how the SAFE-T Act should be
amended.
House Republican Leader Tony McCombie, R-Savanna, acknowledged in an
interview with Capitol News Illinois that her party’s minority status in
Springfield means her caucus’ focus has to be on making changes to
improve the law rather than gutting it altogether, as many Republicans
have called for.
“We have quite a few fixes that we hope will be embraced,” she said. “I
think to say, you know, let’s support the repeal of the SAFE-T Act, we
know … that ship sailed, so let’s just put the fixes in that can still
make this a workable policy.”
Ideas proposed by Republicans include making all felonies eligible for
detention rather than violent felonies, allowing a person’s pretrial
release to be revoked if they commit any new crime while released,
eliminating language that allows people on pretrial home confinement
free movement, and creating a presumption that a person should be
detained when they are charged with a crime against a minor.
“You saw a lot of that language with the SAFE-T Act with very broad
language, which leaves too much to interpretation,” McCombie said.
Capitol News Illinois is
a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government
coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily
by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.
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