The way Matt Lane, McLean County Sheriff, understands it…if you are arrested for domestic battery and you go in front of the judge, the judge can give you a No Contact Order. However, with the SAFE-T act makes it to where if you, as a criminal, were to violate that No Contact Order you won’t be arrested by law enforcement.
“We will be able to document it and send it to the state and the state will have to file additional charges. It will be addressed at the person’s next court date as opposed to an automatic arrest,” said Matt Lane. “Before January 1 you’d go to jail for that.”
Lane said there’s a ‘cooling off’ that the judge wants to happen in these cases, proof that there won’t be physical harm to the victim before they let the alleged abuser and victim back together.
“There’s a system that law enforcement have used and has worked for years,” said Lane. But these are big changes, not little changes.”
All misdemeanors are non-detainable under the SAFE-T act. Before the trailer bill, Second Degree murder and Arson were non-detainable.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Tuesday signed into law changes to the Safe-T Act –a controversial criminal justice overhaul that will eliminate cash bail beginning Jan. 1. Challenges to the law by county sheriffs and state attorneys will be held in court on December 20th—11 days before the law is to be enacted.
“It’s going to push back litigation a little bit and I don’t know it that was the intent,” said Matt Lane. “I know there was recognition of some problems with the first act. They did do some straightening out.”
Recruiting for officers
Lane said he doesn’t expect a mass exodus of police because of the signing of the SAFE-T act into law, but they are ramping up their recruiting efforts.
“There’s a big competition right now to attract and retain people in law enforcement,” said Lane. “We have had a huge amount of deputies leave and go to other departments. We do have openings.”
Lane also said that they are looking to change the minimum age for a Correctional Officer.
“We are recruiting hard to try a fill spots,” said Lane. “We need good people. You have to be 21, and we are actually looking at lowering it. The Department of Corrections will hire at 18 and we had a 21 year old age limit. Not every 18 year old is mature enough, but there are some that will work well I think.”
How many people will be let out on Jan. 1?
“The problem is that we had a number but the trailer bill has change that. Instead of immediate release, we are looking at about 60-90 days we have to get those people out. You have to file a petition to have your case heard. Those folks can try to convince a judge to let them out.”
Lane said he is going to try and meet with all the board members.
“I want to start with a clean slate with everyone,” said Lane. Krystle Able has been vocal about defunding the police on social media. Lane said he thought her recent post (below) was cooperative.
“The SAFE-T act is going to cost us more,” said Lane “There’s more time spent with dealing with and figuring out if someone qualifies to be detained. Some of that depends criminal history. You might be waiting a few hours to see what that history is.”
If the SAFE-T act goes into effect and it isn’t found unconstitutional on Dec. 20, Matt Lane expects a lot of appeals that go to the Supreme Court and Appellate Court and they will piece together what is and isn’t constitutional.
Darren Bailey, a state senator, said Republicans were not a part of drafting the trailer bill. Bailey said there was one Republican states attorney from DuPage County who was in the room.
Assault Weapons ban provision
Cities found out about a bill stuck in committee that also relates to an ‘assault weapons ban’ but turns out a different bill is making it’s way to be heard by the General Assembly.
The HB5855 bill contains a provision that raises the minimum age to own a firearm from 18 to 21.
So will the McLean County Sheriff come in and take guns away from a 19-year old if the ban is passed?
The short answer: No.
“I think the way it is designed to work is that if you are under 21 you won’t have a FOID card unless you are in the military. Those people that are in possession of a weapon right now they can transfer their firearms over to someone with a FOID card,” said Matt Lane.
Individuals under the age of 21 who wish to hunt must do so under the supervision of an adult, and that adult must also have a FOID card.
