Will County Gazette

Republican State Senator and gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey continues to fight for the public's safety as he opposes Gov. J.B. Pritzker's move to end cash bail.

Bailey said it is a must to repeal Pritzker’s soft-on-crime agenda — no cash bail and the SAFE-T Act. He pledged to take action if he will be able to unseat Pritzker in the fall election.

"The DEMOCRAT state’s attorney from Will County says he will have to release 60 accused murderers on Jan. 1, 2023, because of Pritzker’s no cash bail law," Bailey said. "JB Pritzker is letting criminals loose all over Illinois and making our communities less safe. Bad policies are leading to bad outcomes. The only way to change the direction of our state is to change our leadership. Repealing the SAFE-T Act will be one of the top priorities of a Darren Bailey Administration."

Jim Glasgow, the state's attorney for Will County, has argued in favor of repealing the SAFE-T Act. Despite criticism from law enforcement officials like Glasgow who claim the measure would increase crime, Pritzker has defended the SAFE-T Act. Cash bail for alleged offenders is abolished under the law, which will go into effect on January 1, 2023. 

"It will destroy the state of Illinois," Glasgow said according to The Center Square. "I have 640 people in the Will County jail. All their bonds will be extinguished on Jan. 1, and 60 are charged with murder.”

Glasgow has argued strongly against the SAFE-T Act. A violent criminal like Drew Peterson, who is currently detained on murder charges after being captured on camera plotting his own murder of Glasgow, would not have been on the loose if the SAFE-T Act had been in existence. 

“If you go back to his murder trial, he was in jail for three years on a $20 million bond,” Glasgow said according to a previous report from Will County Gazette. “That's the most difficult prosecution I've ever handled. And there's no way in the world that I would have weathered that storm had he been out of jail. In fact, on the overhear when he was captured by the FBI, when they were discussing my murder, he said if he was out on the street, he'd take care of it himself. And then he referenced back to '07 when it all started that he was going to take care of it then but he couldn't slip the media and the police. So there's real danger at all levels here when violent offenders cannot be held."

When the SAFE-T Act is put into force, it will permit the release of those who are accused of committing crimes like robbery, kidnapping, arson, second-degree murder, intimidation, aggravated battery, aggravated DUI, aggravated flight, drug-related homicide, and threatening a public officer, Prairie State Wire reported. The law has been portrayed as a way for criminals to avoid punishment and go free to commit other crimes.