Trump Fires Shot at Illinois Threatening to Withhold Funding Due to Cashless Bail

Illinois reels as Trump signs executive order to end cashless bail

Natalie C. Frank, Ph.D August 27, 2025

flickr [CC BY 4.0]

WASHINGTON, D.C. - In 2023, Illinois became the first state in the nation to abolish cash bail, a decision reinforced in 2023 when the Illinois Supreme Court upheld the landmark provision of the SAFE-T Act. The ruling brought into effect a major criminal justice reform package that lawmakers first adopted in 2021.

Since then, other states and jurisdictions have followed suit, experimenting with limiting or phasing out cash bond, including New Jersey, New Mexico, and Washington, D.C. These efforts often include measures such as court date reminders, transportation vouchers, flexible court scheduling, along with on-site child care to improve appearance rates for defendants released without bail.

The SAFE-T Act, drafted in the wake of the 2020 police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, extends beyond bail reform. It establishes new training requirements for police officers, mandates body cameras across law enforcement agencies, and lays out stricter standards for when and how officers can use force.

Under Illinois’ new system, judges and not cash payments were responsible for the decision of whether someone accused of a crime should remain in custody before trial. The law required courts to evaluate whether an individual charged with certain felonies or violent misdemeanors posed a threat to another person or the broader community, or whether they were likely to flee if released.

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