Kendall County Times

Kendall County State’s Attorney Eric Weis discussed the ramifications of the Illinois SAFE-T Act which abolished cash bail. The comments were made on a recent episode of Dan Proft’s Chicago Morning Answer show.  

"There’s no reason for the defendant not to appeal," Weis said. "It’s going to overwhelm the system. They’re spending millions of dollars in the (Illinois) appellate prosecutor and the appellate defender’s (offices), dealing with it at the trial court levels."

"We’re just seeing a huge influx of appeals that we didn’t have six months ago," he said.

The SAFE-T Act was originally passed in 2021, eliminating pretrial cash bail and preventing judges from ordering individuals charged with a crime to pay money, known as bail, in order to secure their pretrial release.  

Weis was sworn into his fifth term as State’s Attorney for Kendall County in 2020; he was elected to his first term in 2006. He earned a Bachelor’s degree from North Central College and his law degree from Northern Illinois University. He currently resides in Yorkville.