Top prosecutor in Cook County questions safety of electronic monitoring | Law Enforcement Today

COOK COUNTY, IL - State's Attorney Eileen O'Neil Burke does not believe that the chief judge can safely administer electronic monitoring and has instructed all of her lawyers to object every time electronic monitoring is imposed against her wishes.

According to the Chicago SunTimes, judges can still order electronic monitoring despite the objections, but O'Neil Burke said she believes "this is a serious threat to public safety," adding, "we must make that clear on the record." 

Up until last week, the electronic monitoring program had been run by the sheriff's office, but it was transferred to the Adult Probation Department, under Chief Timothy Evans, after Sheriff Tom Dart complained he could no longer safely oversee the program. Beginning April 1st, anyone placed on electronic monitoring after being found to be a flight risk or a danger to the public will be overseen by the probation department.

The sheriff's office will continue to handle its current caseload of people on monitors. Questions remain over who arrests those who violate the stipulations and how extra staff will be funded. Evans' office has acknowledged it will need more than 150 new hires, new office space, additional training, and more resources to run the expanded operation.

Unlike members of the sheriff's office, Evans' probation officers are not sworn law enforcement and cannot make arrests. If a probation officer were to come across a violation, they would need to call local law enforcement to make the arrest. In Chicago, they would call the police, but in unincorporated Cook County, they would call the sheriff's office.

In her memo to prosecutors, O'Neil Burke wrote, "(Office of the Chief Judge) personnel are not law enforcement officers and cannot investigate, seek escape charges, or obtain an arrest warrant if a person absconds. Accordingly, in the event that a person absconds from electronic monitoring, OCJ's pretrial/probation officers' resources is to call 911 or seek assistance from law enforcement and then advance the case to the court call to report that information to a judge."

She also said that the probation department does not have "sufficient properly trained staff to monitor individuals ordered to electronic monitoring instead of detention."

Cook County's 2025 budget includes $6.3 million in funding for the Adult Probation Department, but Evan's office told commissioners it will need closer to $10 million to make the necessary hires for this year. The sheriff's office launched the electronic monitoring program in 1989 to reduce overcrowding in the Cook County Jail.

It was intended to monitor "low-level, nonviolent offenders" and ensure they appeared in court, according to Dart, who said in recent years people with some more serious charges were placed under his supervision.

In 2023, the Pretrial Fairness Act was implemented, which allows all defendants placed on electronic monitoring to have two days of "essential movement," allowing them to go shopping, do laundry or take care of other personal needs. Dart fought strongly against the measure, arguing that it had rendered his program "largely ineffective."

In her memo, O'Neil Burke claimed that the pretrial act has led to more dangerous suspects being released on monitoring. She wrote, "That population includes offenders charged with murder, attempted murder, predatory criminal sexual assault, as well as numerous other violent offenses such as aggravated battery, felony domestic battery, and various other sexual assault and abuse charges."

The Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice, which supported the Pretrial Fairness Act, said O'Neil Burke "make several misleading and problematic claims," adding, "We expect better from someone who ran on a commitment to the Pretrial Fairness Act. For decades, the chief judge has operated electronic monitoring programs. The state's attorney's claim that without the sheriff's involvement, dangerous people will run free is contrary to years of evidence, and such statements are merely designed to scare people as they have no basis in fact."