(NewsNation) — A sheriff says his office is taking steps to prepare for the end of cash bail after the state’s Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of a law getting rid of the measure in Illinois.
The law’s implementation is ordered for mid-September, according to the Associated Press.
Before then, Jefferson County Sheriff Jeff Bullard said, his deputies are working with pre-trial detention personnel and remodeling rooms in the courthouse for them to have office space.
“We’re in constant communication,” Bullard said.
In addition, the Illinois Sheriff’s Association has given them advice and recommendations based on “which way the trends are going with this law.”
Critics of the law have argued that bail ensures defendants released from jail show up for court proceedings. They’ve also said that violent people released pending trial will commit other crimes.
“It is a public safety issue,” Bullard said Monday on “Morning in America.”
In the face of mounting criticism, Democrats relented and added a number of violent crimes that would still be subject to cash bail.
According to WTTW, these include first- and second-degree murder, predatory criminal sexual assault of a child, aggravated criminal sexual assault and criminal sexual assault.
But advocates of ending cash bail say it evens the playing field, and makes it so people are not penalized for poverty, but rather, the crime they are accused of.
“We’re not having this all happen at the snap of the finger, there’s intentionality,” State Sen. Robert Peters, D-Chicago, said, NewsNation local affiliate WCIA reported.
Supreme Court Chief Justice Mary Ann Theis, who delivered the court’s opinion on the law, said that the constitution “does not mandate that monetary bail is the only means to ensure criminal defendants appear for trials or the only means to protect the public.”
The Associated Press contributed to this article.