<span class="field field–name-title field–type-string field–label-hidden">SAFE-T Act Once Again Under the Microscope Following Killing of CPD Officer. State Lawmakers Weigh In</span>
<span class="field field–name-uid field–type-entity-reference field–label-hidden"><span>Blake Thor</span></span>
<span class="field field–name-created field–type-created field–label-hidden"><time datetime="2026-05-11T20:11:00-05:00" title="Monday, May 11, 2026 – 20:11" class="datetime">Mon, 05/11/2026 – 20:11</time>
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<p>The SAFE-T Act, a sweeping criminal justice reform law passed in 2021 by Illinois Democrats, is under renewed scrutiny following the April 25 killing of Chicago police Officer John Bartholomew. </p>
<p>Critics are pointing to the law’s changes to the pretrial detention system as having led to the controversial decision by Cook County Judge John Lyke to allow Bartholomew’s alleged killer out on electronic monitoring, despite prior violent offenses.</p>
<p>Illinois Republicans are pushing for changes to the law that they say would make it easier for judges to detain defendants awaiting trial.</p>
<p>“Even the governor himself has acknowledged that tweaks may need to be made (to the SAFE-T Act),” state House Minority Leader Tony McCombie (R-Savanna) <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMIyJN2Zt0k">said</a> at a news conference. “The question is no longer if reform is needed. It’s how many more tragedies need to happen before action is taken?”</p>
<h3>The SAFE-T Act and Bartholomew’s Killing </h3>
<p>The law, passed by state Democrats in response to the civil unrest and calls for reform following the 2020 killing of George Floyd, eliminated cash bail. </p>
<p>It created a presumption of pretrial release unless a defendant is charged with a detention-eligible offense or is considered highly likely to flee prosecution.</p>
<p>If either condition is met, prosecutors may petition for a detention hearing at which a judge determines whether the defendant should be detained or released, based on the potential risk that person poses to public safety.</p>
<p>In December 2025, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office <a href="https://abc7chicago.com/post/swedish-hospital-shooting-chicago-alphanso-talley-charged-killing-cpd-officer-john-bartholomew/18984819/">petitioned</a> for Bartholomew’s alleged killer, 26-year-old Alphonso Talley, to be detained following an alleged violent carjacking incident months earlier.<br><br>Lyke opted to release Talley with an ankle monitor, despite Talley facing four pending violent felony charges. In March, Lyke issued a warrant for Talley’s arrest after he violated his ankle monitor, but the warrant was never executed.</p>
<p>At a news conference April 29, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said blame for Talley’s release should be laid at the feet of Lyke, not the SAFE-T Act.<br><br>“In most of the cases where Republicans have complained about the SAFE-T Act, it’s actually been a bad decision by an elected judge,” Pritzker said. “A judge can make this decision — a judge should have made that decision to keep that person (Talley) in jail.”</p>
<h3>Legislative Reaction </h3>
<p>Republicans in the House and Senate introduced identical <a href="https://legiscan.com/IL/sponsors/SB4195/2025">bills</a> April 29 that would revoke a defendant’s pretrial release if they commit a new felony offense.</p>
<p>State Sen. Terri Bryant (R-Mt. Vernon), a co-sponsor of the legislation, said the change would amount to a necessary tweak, not a sweeping change, to the SAFE-T Act.</p>
<p>“This change would just say that they have to be detained if they commit another felony,” Bryant said. “I don’t think that’s a sweeping change. I think that’s a tweak that is not only needed, but absolutely imperative.” </p>
<p>Under the Republican proposal, judges would have less discretion in the pretrial process, losing their authority to release defendants who commit a felony while on monitoring.</p>
<p>“We probably need to take away some of the judge’s discretion and make it a little more clear to the judges when they should keep that person detained and not,” Bryant said. </p>
<p>State Sen. Elgie Sims Jr. (D-Chicago) was the lead sponsor of the SAFE-T Act. He said weakening judicial discretion undermines one of the law’s key goals — empowering those closest to a case to make pretrial determinations. </p>
<p>“If you are taking discretion away from the judge to make the determination, that is a significant change,” Sims said. “That is not a tweak.”</p>
<p>Sims said judges have the closest access to and are most familiar with the facts of a case. <br><br>“Let me be very clear, what happened to Officer Bartholomew should have never happened,” Sims said. “But the reality is, the judge is the one who made the decision. He was the closest to the facts before him.” </p>
<p>In January, top state Democrats, including House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch (D-Hillside) and Pritzker, signaled <a href="https://capitolnewsillinois.com/news/top-democrats-say-they-would-consider-small-changes-to-illinois-safe-t-act/">willingness</a> to make small changes to the SAFE-T Act following an incident in which a woman was set on fire on a CTA train. </p>
<p>The man charged in that case, Lawrence Reed, was also out on pretrial release. </p>
<p>State lawmakers have until May 31 to adjust the SAFE-T Act, after which lawmakers would need to wait for the fall legislative session.</p>
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